La Liga leaders Barcelona will play at home against Levante on Sunday.
Ahead of their La Liga clash, we take a look at the key questions.
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Fond farewell for Mascherano?
As one player prepares to join Barca from Liverpool, another ex-Anfield man could say his fond farewell to the club after several years of sterling service.
Javier Mascherano, who has made 332 appearances and won 17 trophies since swapping Merseyside for the Mediterranean in the summer of 2010, is poised to complete a transfer to Hebei China Fortune, with Barca’s attempts to keep him until the end of the season looking fruitless.
Mascherano has lost his starting place to Samuel Umtiti in the last couple of seasons and is even being overlooked in favour of Thomas Vermaelen at the moment, but he could receive a final outing this afternoon in his old central midfield position due to the absence of suspended Sergio Busquets.
The Argentine’s rugged style and all-out commitment have made him a popular figure among fans, and there are certain to be plenty of teary eyes at the final whistle if Sunday’s game does prove to be his last in Blaugrana colours.
Dembele back in business?
After a lay-off of nearly four months, Barca’s record signing Ousmane Dembele is set to finally return to league action after recovering from a thigh injury and appearing as a substitute in Thursday’s 1-1 Copa del Rey draw at Celta Vigo.
He will have to settle for a place on the bench because manager Ernesto Valverde is being extremely cautious over the Frenchman’s physical progress, and the Barca boss is also wary of unsettling a team which has established a nine-point lead at the top of the table with an unbeaten start to the season.
After making just one previous start at Camp Nou – the Champions League meeting with Juventus in September when Lionel Messi stole the show with two brilliant goals – Sunday’s game will effectively feel like a second home debut for Dembele, who looked rather out of place during his few games before his injury.
Dembele’s explosive style is a strong contrast to the careful possession-based play traditionally favoured by the team, and it will probably take a while for the former Borussia Dortmund man and his new teammates to adapt to each other. So although the game may well be already won by the time he comes on, any playing time he can accumulate will be a significant help to his settling-in period ahead of the decisive run-in to the season.
Can Levante offer resistance?
Levante have drawn more games than any other team in La Liga this season, with nine of their 17 games so far ending in stalemates, including three nil-nils in their last four league outings.
The Valencia-based club have desperately struggled going forward in recent weeks, with their only goal in the last five games actually being put through his own net by an opponent, Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte.
So all the evidence strongly suggests that Juan Muniz’s team will attempt to pack their penalty area and play for a 0-0 draw as they go in search of a second famous scalp this season, having already drawn 1-1 at Real Madrid earlier in the campaign.
This, of course, is nothing new for Barcelona and the onus will once again fall upon Lionel Messi to prise open the visiting back line, but if the Argentine is feeling any rustiness after two weeks of inaction it could become a frustrating afternoon for the league leaders.
