The next Barcelona match is upon us! The Blaugrana return to La Liga action with a tough home game against Real Sociedad, and Hansi Flick is expected to call up the following players for Sunday’s clash:
Goalkeepers: 13. Iñaki Peña, 25. Wojciech Szczesny, 31. Diego Kochen
There is some very sad news for this one as Andreas Christensen has once again injured his calf just two days after getting the medical clearance and will miss another month of action, joining Marc-André ter Stegen (knee) and Marc Bernal (knee) as long-term injury absences. Pablo Torre should return to the squad after being left out of the Copa del Rey clash with Atlético Madrid, and Ansu Fati, who didn’t train on Saturday due to illness, misses out once again.
The match kicks off at 4.15pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 3.15pm GMT (UK), 10.15am ET, 7.15am PT (USA), 8.45pm IST (India), and you can join us to follow and comment all the action.
Barcelona have been in exceptional form recently, and under Hansi Flick, they are not just chasing silverware but also aiming to set new records.
The German manager has made a strong impact, steering the team towards a highly successful run.
It must be noted that The Catalan giants ended 2024 on a disappointing note, suffering back-to-back defeats against Leganes and Atletico Madrid in La Liga.
However, they have completely turned things around in 2025, going on an impressive unbeaten streak of 14 matches across all competitions.
During this period, they have secured 11 victories—five in La Liga, three in the Copa del Rey, two in the Spanish Super Cup, and one in the Champions League.
Alongside this, they have also registered three draws—one each in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League. Their attacking firepower has been on full display, with the team scoring a remarkable 46 goals in these matches.
Already surpassed Xavi’s record
Hansi Flick is on the way to break Luis Enrique’s record. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
Flick’s team has already surpassed the longest unbeaten run recorded under Xavi. In the 2022-23 season, Barcelona went 13 games without defeat at the start of 2023, winning 12 and drawing one before eventually falling to Manchester United in the Champions League.
Now, the team has its sights set on an even greater milestone—the record-breaking run under Luis Enrique in the 2015-16 season.
During that historic campaign, Barcelona put together an extraordinary 22-match unbeaten streak. It began on January 2, 2016, with a goalless draw against Espanyol and continued until April 2, when they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Real Madrid in La Liga.
That remarkable stretch included 19 wins—12 in La Liga, five in the Copa del Rey, and two in the Champions League—along with three draws.
If Flick’s Barcelona can maintain their current momentum, they could soon find themselves matching or even surpassing that incredible record.
Mikel Arteta’s attacking injury crisis at Arsenal is a reality he was given fair warning about.
Arsenal’s forward line has been hit hard with season-long injuries to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, along with Bukayo Saka’s absence since December and Gabriel Martinelli’s current spell on the sidelines, denting the club’s Premier League title ambitions.
They now trail league leaders Liverpool by 13 points, although they have one game in hand. The squad depth was already a concern when Arteta opted for a last-minute loan deal for Raheem Sterling from Chelsea back in August, with the former England international failing to impress thus far.
The departures of Eddie Nketiah to Crystal Palace for £25m, Emile Smith Rowe to Fulham for an approximate fee of £27m, and Reiss Nelson’s loan move to the Cottagers, further exacerbated the issue, despite praise from Arsenal legend Alan Smith for the money raised by these exits.
Speaking to CasinoApps back in September, the ex-striker acknowledged the financial wisdom behind the sales. “Arsenal have generated good money for the academy boys,” he noted, via the Mirror. “Nketiah and Smith Rowe left for good sums, while Nelson went out on loan. That gave them an opportunity to raise some much-needed funds because of the new financial rules that the clubs have to adhere to.
“I do think the Gunners are a bit light through the middle in the striker position. Gabriel Jesus keeps on picking up injuries – he’s out at the moment – and we don’t know how close he is to fitness. It’s difficult to rely on him. If he is injured, then you’ve just got to have what you have, which isn’t ideal.”
Arsenal are reportedly eyeing a move for Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich – and signing the Bayern Munich man could see Mikel Arteta transform Declan Rice.
Since Rice joined Arsenal from West Ham for an eye-watering £105m, he has played a pivotal role in Arteta’s squad. His ability to transition from a defensive position to leading an attack makes Rice an incredibly diverse player.
Where the 26-year-old has fallen this season is in his forward presence. Last season, Rice scored seven goals for Arsenal in the Premier League. The two seasons before that with the Irons, he scored five goals in each campaign.
This season so far, he has only bagged a single goal for Arsenal in the Premier League. The 26-year-old hasn’t been able to progress high up the pitch as he likes to do. However, paired alongside a player with the midfield presence of Kimmich, this could change for the better.
A key component of Kimmich’s play is his ability to control games from the centre of the field. With a player that has mountains of experience backing Rice up, the England international would feel much more comfortable pushing forward and playing a more advanced role.
The arrival of Kimmich wouldn’t just be an opportunity for Rice to unlock what fans already know he has, but the ex-West Ham captain could also learn a lot from the eight-time Bundesliga winner.
Arsenal midfielder Fabio Vieira has now played 30 games for FC Porto in all competitions whilst back on loan at his boyhood club this season.
In total, Vieira has now scored four goals and provided four assists for Porto and the Arsenal midfielder is seemingly improving with every game.
When he first arrived at the club, Mikel Arteta was incredibly excited about Vieira, stating his lofty ambitions for his new number 10.
However, the Portuguese midfielder never really enjoyed a consistent run of games in north London despite arriving all the way back in 2022.
Now, it’s hard to envision how Vieira will ever get the chance to star under Arteta, particularly given that Ethan Nwaneri is now making a strong case to replace Martin Odegaard as Arsenal’s number 10.
Fabio Vieira hailed as a ‘genius’ playing in a new position for FC Porto
Either way, it bodes well for the Gunners that Vieira is thriving out on loan, a player who is still under contract at Arsenal until 2027.
And following Vieira’s efforts for Porto against Arouca FC on Saturday evening in a 2-0 win, the Arsenal loanee was hailed as the best player on the pitch by Portuguese outlet A Bola.
Interestingly, Vieira played in a very unfamiliar position in the first half, sitting as one of Porto’s deep-lying midfielders, operating as a number six.
The Arsenal man played slightly further forward in the second half when he grabbed his goal, a performance that was said to have ‘unleashed the genius’.
Translated from Portuguese, A Bola wrote: “After scoring at Estadio do Dragao against V. Guimaraes in the previous round, the midfielder was once again instrumental in FC Porto’s victory in Arouca, scoring a goal that calmed the waters when the result was a complete unknown.
“He started the match playing as an 8-man, with Martin Anselmi asking him to take charge of the team’s attacking play, but in the second half he freed himself from some tactical constraints and began to show off his footballing skills.
“First, he sent a ball onto the crossbar, in yet another involved play, but in the second half he had an accurate shot that gave the team some confidence at a crucial moment in the game.
“He is gradually improving in form. The only blemish was the yellow card that ruled him out of the important match in Braga.”
Mikel Arteta didn’t make a mistake with Fabio Vieira
Of course, seeing how well Vieira is playing in Portugal, it’s easy to point the finger at Arteta accusing the Spaniard of making a mistake in the summer when allowing him to leave on loan.
However, Vieira had been struggling at Arsenal and seemingly lost a lot of confidence during a spell when he was often picking up injuries and not playing.
Arsenal have hatched a plan to stop William Saliba from leaving for Real Madrid, with a report revealing how much the Gunners are willing to pay the central defender, as Los Blancos are said to be willing to offer £115.5million for a Germany international star.
Saliba has established himself as one of the best defenders in the Premier League and is one of the first names on the Arsenal teamsheet. One of the major reasons why the Gunners have become regular challengers for the league title is because of the France international’s formidable partnership with Gabriel at the heart of Mikel Arteta’s team.
With Eder Militao and David Alaba having injury problems and Antonio Rudiger in his 30s, Madrid are on the hunt for a new centre-back and have identified Saliba as “an absolute priority”.
There have been reports that Madrid have already been in contact with Saliba’s entourage and are willing to pay a world-record transfer fee for a defender.
According to TBR, Arsenal have now responded to Madrid’s interest in Saliba by planning to open talks with the 23-year-old centre-back over a new deal.
The Gunners, who are aiming to beat Liverpool to the Premier League title this season, are ready to reward Saliba “with a significant pay increase and put him close to £250,000-a-week”.
The report has noted that such a pay-hike would see Saliba put “in the same category as the likes of Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and the club’s highest paid player Kai Havertz”.
Arsenal are reportedly confident that Saliba can be convinced to sign a new deal and turn down the chance to move to Los Blancos.
The Gunners’ plan is to open talks with the defender in the coming months with a view to getting the paperwork sorted before the start of next season.
Saliba has made a total of 90 appearances in the Premier League so far in his career. The defender has scored six goals, given two assists and kept 39 clean sheets in those games.
Arsenal have been plagued by injuries this season with key players like Ben White, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka missing a number of games.
Takehiro Tomiyasu, Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz are all currently on the sidelines and in truth the injuries have heavily impacted the Gunners’ results. Mikel Arteta’s side find themselves 13 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, who have remained fairly fortunate on the injury front themselves.
After Havertz was ruled out for the season after sustaining a hamstring injury during the warm-weather training camp in Dubai, Arteta opened up about the sheer number of injuries impacting his squad. “We were having a great Dubai camp and then the injury happened in an unexpected way and it’s a big blow because of the injuries we have,” Arteta said last month.
“We’ve had players who are injured who’ve played 130 games in the last two seasons, so it’s an accident waiting to happen when you continue to load, load and load. The intensity is at a different level and the demands in terms of minutes in this competitive environment is getting higher and higher and it’s a consequence of that. The amount of muscle and tendon injuries is higher than ever so there’s a relationship.
“We’re very limited and we’re training less than ever. There’s no time for training. The biggest problem is that you don’t train the muscle, the muscle is undertrained and then you expose the muscle and the tendon to an exposure that it can’t absorb because the tendon has 72 hours to recover.”
The likes of White and Riccardo Calafiori have recently come back from injury but Arsenal still remain relatively light in the forward areas. This may change over the coming weeks, though, with Martinelli and Saka hopefully available for selection.
It is very clear that FC Barcelona are looking to find a striker in the transfer market, and Spanish news outlet Fichajes has reported that the Catalan club are ready to make the move for Julian Alvarez of Atletico Madrid. They are ready to spend €60 million and also send Ferran Torres to Atletico Madrid.
BARCELONA, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 25: Julian Alvarez of Atletico de Madrid celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Copa del Rey Semi Final match between FC Barcelona and Atletico de Madrid at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on February 25, 2025 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
FC Barcelona want to sign Julian Alvarez
The FIFA 2022 World Cup winner is a sensational striker but managed to not get enough minutes at Manchester City due to the presence of Erling Haaland. He has been in very good form for the Rojiblancos this season.
Alvarez has scored 9 goals in 25 matches so far in the La Liga 2024/2025 season. Overall, his goals scored per 90 minutes is 0.48. Moreover, Alvarez’s total G/A (goals + assists) is 11 for this season. His goal involvement equates to 0.59 per 90 minutes. His non-penalty xG per 90 minutes is 0.44. This puts Julian Alvarez’s npxG output at 8.27.
Looking into his passing aspect of the game, Alvarez passes the ball roughly 31.56 times during a game with a pass completion rate of 77.04%. He also plays 1.29 key passes each game. Overall, Alvarez’s xA (expected assists) output is 0.16 per 90 minutes.
Will he be a good choice?
Alvarez is a gem, versatile, sharp, and a natural goal scorer. He’s got pace, silky dribbling, and a knack for popping up in the clutch like he did at Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, and Argentina. His work rate’s unreal; he presses hard and links play beautifully, fitting Barcelona’s possession style like a glove. At 25, he’s already a World Cup winner, so he’s got that big-game mentality. If Barca sign him, he’d ease the load on Lewandowski, add flair up top, and grow into a leader. He’s hungry, technical, and ready to shine at the Camp Nou.
Barcelona are looking for a replacement for Lewandowski given that he is less agile now and is at the fag end of his career. Torres has played a makeshift role but hasn’t been able to succeed and perform consistently. Hence, they are also looking to offload him in the summer.
After an enthralling cup match against Atletico Madrid in midweek, FC Barcelona will be back in action in La Liga on Sunday as they take on Real Sociedad in matchweek 26.
The Blaugrana were not at their brilliant best in recent games against Rayo Vallecano and Las Palmas while their defensive vulnerabilities were exposed by Atletico in midweek.
As such, Hansi Flick will be hoping to correct his team’s course at the earliest, especially with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in a position to open a lead at the top given that they are in action on Saturday.
It will not be easy, though, given that Imanol Alguacil’s side defeated Barça 1-0 in the reverse fixture at the Reale Arena earlier in the season.
Ahead of the game against La Real, Barcelona were dealt with a fresh injury setback as Andreas Christensen suffered a relapse days after receiving his medical discharge. He joins Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Marc Bernal on the sidelines.
Manager Flick hinted that there will be rotations for tomorrow’s game, which makes sense given Barcelona play Benfica next week in the UEFA Champions League. Here’s how the Catalans could line up against the Basque club.
Defence
There is no looking past Wojciech Szczesny in the Barcelona goal, with the veteran Polish shot-stopper becoming the manager’s preferred option ahead of Inaki Pena.
A change in the backline is expected with Pau Cubarsi, who has been playing relentlessly, in contention for a rest. In his place, Ronald Araujo, who has barely played in recent matches, is likely to get the nod alongside Inigo Martinez in defence.
Meanwhile, Gerard Martin is likely to get a rare start at left-back, with Alejandro Balde being granted a rest. On the other side, Jules Kounde should hold on to his spot as Barça’s premier right-back.
Midfield
Set to start? (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)
There are expected to be one or two alterations in the middle of the park as well. Marc Casado, who was an unused substitute against Atletico in midweek, should receive a starting opportunity tomorrow against Real Sociedad.
It would come at the expense of Frenkie de Jong, who has become a regular in recent weeks but still needs some work on the defensive side of his game.
Pedri is a guaranteed starter in the centre of the pitch for the Blaugrana and given the form he has shown, the Spanish magician will once again hold the key for the home team.
Dani Olmo, meanwhile, should hold on to his place in the attacking midfield position for the Catalans, ahead of Fermin Lopez and Gavi, who will hope to have a bigger impact when he comes on as a substitute.
Attack
The attacking unit is set for at least one change tomorrow as Robert Lewandowski should reclaim his spot as the centre-forward after having made way for Ferran Torres against Atletico Madrid.
Raphinha and Lamine Yamal should hold on to their places on the flanks but Flick could look to give them a rest in the later stages of the match.
Arsenal are reportedly ready to rival AC Milan for talented Wolves star Rayan Ait-Nouri as Mikel Arteta looks to bring in a new left-back this summer.
Wolves have had a disappointing season and currently sit fourth-bottom of the Premier League table but Ait-Nouri has himself on the radar of a number of top European sides.
Arsenal have a top young left-back already in Miles Lewis-Skelly, while Riccardo Calafiori is also very capable in the position.
However, CaughtOffside claim that Arsenal have ‘long-standing interest’ in Ait-Nouri and could ‘battle’ AC Milan for his signature this summer.
Milan, meanwhile, have shortlisted Ait-Nouri as a potential replacement for Theo Hernandez, whose future at the San Siro is uncertain.
The report claims that Ait-Nouri could be available for ‘around €60m (£50m, $62m) this summer and there is a ‘recognition’ that some key players could depart Molineux.
Ait-Nouri, 23, has made 29 appearances across all competitions this season, notching four goals and five assists in the process. He has long been touted to join an elite side in the future and reports suggest he could be on the move this summer.
Arsenal could lose two left-backs this summer
Arsenal are preparing for a big summer window after keeping their powder dry in January, even if they did submit a failed bid for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins.
Arteta is strengthen in multiple areas, particularly up front, with RB Leipzig star Benjamin Sesko understood to be the Gunners’ top target at this stage.
Arsenal are big admirers of Newcastle’s Alexander Isak, too, but there is an acceptance that he will be near-impossible to sign this summer.
The Gunners also want to bolster their midfield options and have surged into the race for Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich in recent days, while Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi remains a top target too.
