FC Barcelona - Eibar preview: Champions look to build momentum

FC Barcelona host the Basque Country side who have clearly been punching above their weight this season but will still be a big test for the defending Spanish and European champions and to do that, they need to beat Eibar at the Camp Nou.

Barcelona's form

The Blaugrana are coming off two wins in a week, with a 5-2 victory over Rayo Vallecano, which saw Brazilian winger Neymar score four goals and midweek when they travel to Minsk, Belarus to take on BATE Borisov where they won 2-0 off a brace from Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic. While they are still without Lionel Messi for this match and probably will not be back until the 21st of November when they travel for El Clasico against bitter rivals Real Madrid, it might be worth praising that the replacement of Messi, Munir El Haddadi has been a key player as seen in previous matches when slotting on the right wing.

In team news, Andres Iniesta is back in training after suffer an injury in a previous match and might possibly feature in the starting 11. However, Sergi Roberto who suffered an injury against BATE will not be included in the squad, meaning that Luis Enrique will be looking to the B team for reinforcements, such as Gerard Gumbau.

Should Barcelona win this match, because of the Real Madrid win against Celta Vigo earlier today, they will be level on points with 21 and might be level on points should they all win their matches leading up to next month's El Clasico.

Eibar's form

Eibar have only picked up one win in their last three, but if you consider the two draws were against Sevilla and Celta Vigo and the win being against recently promoted Las Palmas, you have to be impressed of what Spain's ''The Little Engine That Could'' has been achieving in only two seasons playing in La Liga. Away from home, Eibar are on a five game undefeated streak as they sit sixth in the league, in the last European spot.

Nevertheless, what José Luis Mendilibar's men would love to do is to continue to surprise the rest of Spain and what better way to do it is by getting either a draw or better, a win against the domestic treble champions? A player to watch would include Borja Baston, who is on loan from Atletico Madrid and has bagged five goals already this season.

Historically in the two meetings last season, Barcelona got both victories home (3-0) and away (2-0).

Manager quotes

Luis Enrique has stated about his opponents that “they are a dangerous side and very clear about they have to do." He later continued his statement about Eibar saying "It’s the same kind of difficulty we expect from any side we play."

Meanwhile, his counterpart Mendilibar said that "playing at the the Camp Nou, Barcelona will try to not make it a good game, but perhaps it is the most difficult match this season." He continued about the importance of this match thinking "it not be a game to enjoy. We will sweat and run like fools behind the ball."