Joao Felix undid his parent club as a first-half finish from the Portugal international earned Barcelona a 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium.
Felix lifted the ball over goalkeeper Jan Oblak in deft fashion in the 28th minute as Xavi’s men replaced Atletico in third in the LaLiga table, with a four-point gap to leaders Real Madrid and second-placed Girona
Sevilla were held 1-1 at home by Villarreal, Hector Bellerin was shown a red card in the 27th minute of Real Betis’ goalless draw at Almeria, and Mallorca and Alaves also drew a blank.
Kylian Mbappe inspired 10-man Paris St Germain to a 2-0 victory over Le Havre to send them four points clear of Nice at the top of Ligue 1.
PSG found themselves down to 10 men after just 10 minutes when goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was sent off for a high challenge on Josue Casimir.
The visitors went in front in the 23rd minute through Mbappe and while the hosts did their best to find an equaliser, Vitinha scored against the run of play in the 89th minute to seal three points.
Goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier saved two penalties as Lille claimed a 2-0 win at home to Metz. The 22-year-old denied Simon Elisor before two goals in first-half stoppage time from Yusuf Yazici and Jonathan David put Lille in control.
More heroics from Chevalier 10 minutes into the second half to keep out Lamine Camara’s penalty helped preserve victory for the home side.
Third-placed Monaco are two points behind Nice following a 2-0 win over 10-man Montpellier, who saw Boubakar Kouyate sent off in the second half, while Brest beat Clermont 3-0 and Toulouse played out a 1-1 draw with Lorient.
Both sides were reduced to 10 as Marseille beat Rennes 2-0 at home, Christopher Wooh being dismissed for the visitors just past the hour mark and Iliman Ndiaye going soon after.
Marseille’s goals came via an early Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang penalty and Azzedine Ounahi effort between the red cards.
Inter Milan moved back above Juventus to the top of Serie A with a 3-0 win at defending champions Napoli, with Hakan Calhanoglu, Nicolo Barella and Marcus Thuram on the scoresheet.
Rasmus Kristensen scored the winner for Roma as they came from behind to beat Sassuolo 2-1.
Matheus Henrique fired in a first-half opener for Sassuolo, but it all came undone after the break when Daniel Boloca was dismissed and Paulo Dybala scored from the spot, before Kristensen fired home a second.
A Lucas Beltran spot-kick and further goals from Riccardo Sottil and Giacomo Bonaventura earned Fiorentina a 3-0 victory over Salernitana, while Udinese and Verona drew 3-3.
Bologna looked poised for victory at Lecce but had to settle for a point after Roberto Piccoli’s penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time cancelled out Charalampos Lykogiannis’ 68th-minute opener.
In the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund were on course to leapfrog fourth-placed Leipzig with a vital victory at leaders Bayer Leverkusen after Julian Ryerson fired the visitors ahead after five minutes, but Victor Boniface salvaged a point when he levelled late in the second half.
Elsewhere, Augsburg beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 and Freiburg won 1-0 at Mainz.
Joao Felix scored the winner against his parent club as Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 at home to move above them in the LaLiga table.
Felix, who joined Barca on loan during the summer, grabbed the only goal with a deft finish in the 28th minute – five days on from scoring his side’s second in their 2-1 Champions League victory over Porto.
Raphinha almost doubled the lead when he hit a post after the break, before Barca goalkeeper Inaki Pena came to the fore with some fine saves that included turning a Memphis Depay free-kick against the crossbar.
Xavi’s men replace Diego Simeone’s Atletico in third, with a four-point gap to leaders Real Madrid and second-placed Girona – Barcelona’s opponents at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium next Sunday.
Barca had a starting line-up unchanged from the Porto match until an issue in the warm-up for Inigo Martinez resulted in the defender being replaced by Andreas Christensen.
After the contest got under way, the home side had a chance in the opening seconds as Raphinha advanced into the box and shot wide.
Fellow forward Robert Lewandowski hit a subsequent volley off-target, before Felix put the hosts in front, collecting the ball from Raphinha, getting past Nahuel Molina and lifting the ball over Jan Oblak in delightful fashion.
The Portuguese then saw his flick well kept out by Oblak with a minute of normal time remaining in the first half.
Raphinha went closer in the 57th minute as his shot came back off a post, shortly before Pena produced a good save to keep out an Alvaro Morata attempt.
After Felix put another attempt wide, there were then further heroics from Pena in the 80th minute as he diverted ex-Barca man Depay’s free-kick onto the bar.
Lewandowski tried his luck again six minutes later, shooting wide, before Pena excelled once again in stoppage time to thwart Depay’s fellow substitute Angel Correa and ensure the champions claimed three points.
Ilkay Gundogan says he hopes to stay at Barcelona for many more years and wants to win titles with the Catalan giants.
The 33-year-old moved to the club in the summer after seven years at Manchester City – where he signed off by winning the Champions League.
Gundogan has played 19 times in all competitions so far this season for Xavi’s side, scoring once, and says he is starting to find his feet at the club.
“I am getting more and more used to it,” Gundogan told Barca TV.
“The start of course is always a bit difficult. You come from a different country, a different league, you don’t know many people. So there are things that you need to get used to.
“But as a family we are settling in more and more, we have found an apartment for ourselves. Everyone is amazing to me, the way I get treated here in the club.
“We love the city as a family, we feel very at home and very comfortable.
“I did not have any doubt for one second, I did not regret my choice for one second. We are very happy and we are looking forward to many more years here. And I came here to prove myself, play amazing football and win a lot of titles hopefully.”
Barcelona host Atletico Madrid on Sunday sitting fourth in LaLiga, level on points with their opponents and four adrift of Real Madrid and surprise challengers Girona.
Xavi’s men slipped up last weekend with a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano before securing their spot in the Champions League knockout phase with a 2-1 win over Porto in midweek.
Striker Robert Lewandowski knows that this is a key week for Barcelona, with home games against Atletico and Girona, and is targeting taking six points.
“We know we need to take a step forward. The season is very long,” Lewandowski said.
“We want to win every game and now we have very important games in the league and I hope to win both games and get six points.
“It’s always hard to play against Atletico Madrid. Atletico always play very well in defence, good at attacking with good players too.
“But we are Barca and we’re playing at home. From the first minute we have to play very well, attack and score goals. We’re playing two teams that are very high up in the table and I think we know how important it is for us to play well in defence.
“We attack with a lot of players in the area. With a lot of players in the area we have more chances to score goals. Of course it’s a challenge for us and now we want to start not only winning but also playing better. That’s very important for us.
“Yes it’s not just Atletico and I hope that we end up with six more points.”
Joao Felix could finally fulfil his potential in Barcelona's possession-based style, says former Atletico Madrid team-mate Hector Herrera.
The Portugal international arrived at Atleti at the age of 19 ahead of the 2019-20 campaign for a club-record fee of €126million (£109m), but never quite lived up to his massive price tag, scoring just 34 goals in 131 games.
He had an unremarkable spell on loan at Chelsea last season, before Barcelona brought him in until the end of the campaign just before the most recent transfer deadline.
Joao Felix will look to come back and haunt his former side this weekend, with his loan agreement stating the forward is allowed to play as Barca host Atleti in LaLiga on Sunday.
While Atleti are happy to allow the opposition to have the majority of the ball, Xavi's Barca are predominantly a possession-first side, with the Blaugrana having 66.72 per cent of the ball in LaLiga this season, significantly higher than the 50.67 per cent Atletico have averaged since the start of the 2019-20 season.
However, the change in tactics has seemingly done little to improve Joao Felix's form, with the 24-year-old averaging 0.12 goals, 0.25 assists and 0.37 big chances created per 90 minutes for Barca, ranking fifth, fourth and fourth respectively among his five LaLiga seasons so far.
Despite those numbers, Herrera feels Joao Felix could still flourish under Xavi, telling Stats Perform: "Beyond having been colleagues, we have a great relationship.
"It seemed that at Atletico he couldn't adapt, but now at Barcelona with a more associative game with the ball, I hope he has success and can stand out as he wants.
"He is a good player and he has a lot of future. He is able to exploit all his potential."
Barcelona booked their passage to the Champions League last 16 for the first time in three seasons as Joao Felix’s second-half goal secured a 2-1 comeback win at home to Porto.
The former Atletico Madrid and Chelsea forward netted just before the hour mark after being set up by Joao Cancelo to seal the win and ensure it would not be a third consecutive group stage exit for Xavi’s side, despite having been given an early scare by the Portuguese side.
It was former Real Madrid stalwart Pepe who scored the goal for Porto that looked like it would set Barca up for a nervous final matchday in two weeks’ time, at 40 years old breaking his own record as the oldest ever goalscorer in the competition.
The lead lasted barely two minutes and it was ex-Manchester City player Cancelo who levelled in spectacular fashion.
Pedri swept a pass out wide to Cancelo advancing down the left but there was plenty still for the Portugal international to do as he carried the ball into the box and unleashed a superb right-footed effort that flew into the far corner.
Felix then got forward after the break to finish from Cancelo’s pass and secure a priceless win.
Shakhtar Donetsk’s earlier victory against Royal Antwerp had meant that Barca and Porto went into their match locked together on nine points with the Ukrainian champions, but Felix’s winner means Xavi’s side can relax in their final match against Antwerp whilst the other two teams play off for the right to join them in the last 16.
Barca earlier announced that teenage midfielder Gavi had undergone a “successful” operation on his torn anterior cruciate ligament, which is expected to rule him out for the rest of the season and the European Championship next summer.
Barcelona midfielder Gavi has undergone a successful operation on his right knee.
The 19-year-old tore his anterior cruciate ligament and damaged the lateral meniscus during the first half of Spain’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Georgia earlier this month.
The news was a major blow to club and country, with Gavi having established himself as a key player for both. He is expected to miss the rest of the season and the European Championship next summer.
A statement from Barcelona read: “First team player Gavi had a successful operation on his torn right knee anterior cruciate ligament plus a meniscus suture today.
“Supervised by the club’s medical services, Doctor Joan Carles Monllau performed the intervention at Hospital de Barcelona. His recovery will determine when he is fit to return to the squad.”
Gavi has made more than 100 appearances for Barcelona since breaking into the team in 2021.
Last season he was awarded the Kopa Trophy for best young player at the 2022 Ballon d’Or and the Golden Boy award.
Barcelona manager Xavi insists he has full faith in his team and coaching staff as they look to produce “one of those magical nights” to secure a place in the Champions League knockout stages.
Porto head to the Estadi de Montjuic on Tuesday night level on points with Barca at the top of Group H.
After missing the opportunity to book a safe passage into the last 16 when beaten 1-0 away to Shakhtar Donetsk before the international break, Xavi’s side returned to domestic action with a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano – where Florian Lejeune’s late own goal rescued a point.
Following on from defeat in El Clasico, the pressure continues to mount on Xavi and his team, who now sit fourth in LaLiga.
Xavi, though, maintains there is no sense of a crisis in the camp.
“We have to keep working to get our game back, that is Barca,” Xavi said. “It is pressure, but for me nothing has changed. We have to plan games well to compete as best we can.
“I have blind faith in my team and my coaching staff. We are a unit and for that reason I think things will work out.”
Xavi told a press conference: “We are going into the game really motivated, in front of our own fans and let’s hope it is a magical night.
“It is an important test for us. We have to be self-critical and say lately we have not played how we have wanted to, but we are on the right path.
“It is a great opportunity for it to be a turning. We have to change our mentality and be a competitive beast. We have to go after the game from the off.”
Barcelona defender Joao Cancelo is confident the players have what it take to rally round and produce the required display against Porto, having battled to a 1-0 win when they met at the Estadio do Dragao in October.
“We know how important this game is for us, as a team and as a club,” Cancelo said. “We could have qualified against Shakhtar.
“It has been a difficult month. We have a very young team, but with a lot of quality.
“So let’s go out there and try to improve the situation.”
Barcelona will again check on goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who missed the draw against Rayo Vallecano with a back problem.
Porto come into Tuesday night’s game having beaten third tier Montalegre 4-0 in the Portuguese Cup last Friday night.
Veteran defender Pepe continues to be assessed with a thigh problem which ruled him out of Portugal’s squad for the final two Euro 2024 qualifiers and also the domestic cup fixture.
Barcelona snatched a late equaliser as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano.
Florian Lejeune’s late own goal rescued a point for Xavi’s side but their slip-up opened the door for Real Madrid and surprise leaders Girona to extend their advantage in the title race.
Vallecano made most of the running in the first period and got their reward with a stunning Unai Lopez volley in the 39th minute.
Barcelona went in search of an equaliser in the second period as chances from Pedri, Ferran Torres and Joao Cancelo all went begging but Lejeune’s 82nd-minute own goal gave the Catalan giants a reprieve.
Vallecano made a bright start and had the first chance of the game but Isi Palazon’s effort from outside the area flew over the crossbar.
Palazon proved to be a menace and tried his luck again a couple of minutes later but his drilled effort was parried by Inaki Pena before the goalkeeper grabbed at the second attempt.
Barcelona failed to make an impression in the opening stages but had their first shot on target in the 28th minute when Lamine Yamal rode the challenge of three defenders into the area before smashing straight into the hands of Stole Dimitrievski.
Vallecano were straight back on the front foot and threatened to break the deadlock but Lopez’s goalbound effort was blocked by Andreas Christensen.
The home side’s deserved lead came in the 38th minute in superb fashion as Oscar Trejo’s initial effort was blocked out to Lopez, who smashed in on the volley from distance past the diving Pena.
Vallecano were inches away from doubling their advantage as Jorge De Frutos fizzed a ball into the six-yard box, which needed to be cleared by Alejandro Balde to keep the deficit to just one at the break.
Barcelona started the second half with much more intent than the first and came close to levelling things up but Cancelo’s curling effort from outside the area lifted just over the bar.
Chances began to come freely for the away side as Oriol Romeu’s cross found Ferran Torres free in space but his effort went straight to Dimitrievski.
Two minutes later another glorious opportunity came and went when Robert Lewandowski’s cross found Pedri in the six-yard area but he nodded over with the goal at his mercy.
With 15 minutes to go, the Barcelona pressure was now relentless and they were denied an equaliser by the woodwork when Raphinha’s shot from range crashed off the post.
But Barcelona had their equaliser in the 82nd minute as Lewandowski sent a ball across the box and Lejeune stuck a foot out but could only turn into his own goal.
Defender Alejandro Balde is confident Barcelona can end their Rayo Vallecano “curse” on Saturday.
The reigning LaLiga champions have not beaten Rayo in four attempts and will hope to put the record straight when they head for the Estadio de Vallecas this weekend.
Balde told the club’s official website: “This is an important match for the team. We haven’t beaten Rayo Vallecano for two years and I think a win on Saturday will break the curse of not winning.
“The start of the season was good. We are in third place in the league and we are already close to qualifying for [the knockout stage of] the Champions League.
“We are four points away from the top, but the season is still long and anything can happen.”
Three of those four winless games against Rayo have come since Xavi replaced Ronald Koeman at the helm in November 2021.
Barca go into the game having lost two of their last four in all competitions, a 2-1 El Clasico defeat by Real Madrid and a shock 1-0 Champions League reverse at Shakhtar Donetsk, but lying third in the table two points behind Real and four adrift of leaders Girona.
However, they do so having lost the services of 19-year-old midfield star Gavi, who is not expected to play again this season after suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage on international duty with Spain.
Frenkie De Jong is closing in on a return from an ankle injury which has sidelined him since the end of September, while keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is a doubt.
Asked about Gavi, Balde said: “I send him a lot of support. It is a very difficult and long injury, and the most important thing is for him to be patient because he must recover well because the team will need him.
“We are losing a great player, a key player in the team, we are losing his ferocity.”
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Rayo, who have won only one of their last eight league games, but drawn six of them, complete a run of fixtures against the top three which has seen them draw 0-0 at Real Madrid before losing 2-1 at home to Girona despite taking an early lead.
Manager Francisco told a press conference: “We respect our rival a lot. They are one of the best in Europe and the world.
“We have to do what we have been doing, be brave and try to take advantage of the moments we have.”
What the papers say
The Daily Mail says Tottenham midfielder Giovani Lo Celso has emerged as a loan option for Barcelona to fill their Gavi-shaped gap. The Spanish side are reportedly unlikely to look for a permanent replacement after they received £6million in compensation from FIFA following the Spain international’s knee injury.
According to the Mirror, Portuguese midfielder Fabio Vieira could get the green light from Arsenal to join Marseille on loan.
Chelsea are keen to part with Romelu Lukaku in the summer transfer window, with Italian side Roma eager to make the 30-year-old’s loan move permanent, the Evening Standard reports.
Social media round-upPlayers to watch
Gleison Bremer: The Juventus and Brazil centre-back is reportedly keen to move to the Premier League, as per the Telegraph.
Dusan Vlahovic: The 23-year-old Serbian striker is looking to sign a contract extension at Juve, 90min reports, even though there is rumoured interest from Arsenal and Manchester United.
Barcelona midfielder Gavi has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, the club have confirmed.
The 19-year-old suffered the injury playing for Spain in their Euro 2024 qualifier against Georgia on Sunday, limping off the pitch in the opening 25 minutes.
Barca said in a statement that tests carried out on Monday morning have shown he has “a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and an associated injury to the lateral meniscus”.
He will undergo surgery in the coming days.
The extent of the injury is a big blow for Barcelona, who are currently third in LaLiga, with Gavi having established himself as a key player in their squad since making his debut at 17 years old in August 2021, making 111 appearances already.
He won the league title with Barca last season and has played 15 times for them this term.
Spain went on to win the match against Georgia 3-1 and Barcelona team-mate Ferran Torres celebrated his second-half goal by holding Gavi’s shirt up.
Speaking after the match, Spain boss Luis de la Fuente described the win as “bittersweet”.
He said: “It’s one of the most bittersweet victories I’ve ever had. As far as I can remember, it’s the hardest, the bitterest of moments, to see an important player like Gavi sustain an injury like that.
“It’s a very difficult moment for the player, for his club, for the RFEF (Spanish Football Federation), for the national team and for all his team-mates. In the dressing room it felt like we had lost. This is the ugly side of football.
“Football is a risky activity occasionally, something we often forget to appreciate. It was an unfortunate incident, but Gavi was perfectly fit to play the game and it was just unlucky, really, really unlucky.”
Robert Lewandowski got Barcelona out of jail as Alaves threatened to pile on further misery for the reigning LaLiga champions.
The 35-year-old Poland international headed home a second-half equaliser after Samu Omorodion had fired the visitors in front with just 18 seconds gone and then converted a late penalty to ensure an eventful afternoon at the Estadio Olimpico ended 2-1 to the hosts.
However, Samu was left to reflect on what might have been after passing up three further chances to add to his tally as Barca, who were without influential duo Gavi and Frenkie de Jong, turned in an abject first-half display before finally finding their feet.
The home side kicked off under some pressure after their their midweek Champions League defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk, which came in the wake of their El Clasico reverse and an unconvincing league win over Real Sociedad.
And they could hardly have got off to a worse start as they conceded inside the opening minute.
Ilkay Gundogan was robbed by Jon Guridi inside the Alaves half and he carved his way deep into Barca territory before picking out Javi Lopez, whose cross was swept past keeper Marc Andre ter Stegen by the 19-year-old Samu.
Things could have been significantly worse for Xavi’s men amid a shambolic start as they were repeatedly opened up by the visitors.
Samu fired into the side-netting after controlling Andoni Gorosabel’s pass, and then missed the target after the latter had split the home defence to send him one-on-one with Ter Stegen.
Shell-shocked Barcelona started to work their way into the game and Alaves keeper Antonio Sivera had to save from Lewandowski and Joao Felix.
But in the meantime, Lopez had scuffed a shot on the turn wide after catching defender Jules Kounde sleeping, and the France international was fortunate to escape for a second time when Samu fired after being muscled off the ball by the frontman.
Felix tried desperately to drag his side back into the game as time ran down, but Sivera remained largely untroubled and the locals made their feelings abundantly clear on the whistle.
Barca returned with much greater purpose and Joao Cancelo fired into Sivera’s midriff within three minutes, and they were back in it with 53 minutes gone when Lewandowski got ahead of defender Rafa Marin to power home a header from Kounde’s right-wing cross.
The visitors found themselves pinned back deep inside their own half, but almost profited from another Kounde error when he headed Ruben Duarte’s free-kick straight at Abdelkabir Abqar, although the defender was unable to convert.
Lamine Yamal tested Sivera with a swerving attempt, but the Catalans finally edged in front with 12 minutes remaining when, after Abqar had tripped substitute Ferran Torres in the box, Lewandowski emphatically dispatched the resulting spot-kick.
Robert Lewandowski got Barcelona out of jail as Alaves threatened to pile on further misery for the reigning LaLiga champions.
The 35-year-old Poland international headed home a second-half equaliser after Samu Omorodion had fired the visitors in front with just 18 seconds gone and then converted a late penalty to ensure an eventful afternoon at the Estadio Olimpico ended 2-1 to the hosts.
However, Samu was left to reflect on what might have been after passing up three further chances to add to his tally as Barca, who were without influential duo Gavi and Frenkie de Jong, turned in an abject first-half display before finally finding their feet.
The home side kicked off under some pressure after their their midweek Champions League defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk, which came in the wake of their El Clasico reverse and an unconvincing league win over Real Sociedad.
And they could hardly have got off to a worse start as they conceded inside the opening minute.
Ilkay Gundogan was robbed by Jon Guridi inside the Alaves half and he carved his way deep into Barca territory before picking out Javi Lopez, whose cross was swept past keeper Marc Andre ter Stegen by the 19-year-old Samu.
Things could have been significantly worse for Xavi’s men amid a shambolic start as they were repeatedly opened up by the visitors.
Samu fired into the side-netting after controlling Andoni Gorosabel’s pass, and then missed the target after the latter had split the home defence to send him one-on-one with Ter Stegen.
Shell-shocked Barcelona started to work their way into the game and Alaves keeper Antonio Sivera had to save from Lewandowski and Joao Felix.
But in the meantime, Lopez had scuffed a shot on the turn wide after catching defender Jules Kounde sleeping, and the France international was fortunate to escape for a second time when Samu fired after being muscled off the ball by the frontman.
Felix tried desperately to drag his side back into the game as time ran down, but Sivera remained largely untroubled and the locals made their feelings abundantly clear on the whistle.
Barca returned with much greater purpose and Joao Cancelo fired into Sivera’s midriff within three minutes, and they were back in it with 53 minutes gone when Lewandowski got ahead of defender Rafa Marin to power home a header from Kounde’s right-wing cross.
The visitors found themselves pinned back deep inside their own half, but almost profited from another Kounde error when he headed Ruben Duarte’s free-kick straight at Abdelkabir Abqar, although the defender was unable to convert.
Lamine Yamal tested Sivera with a swerving attempt, but the Catalans finally edged in front with 12 minutes remaining when, after Abqar had tripped substitute Ferran Torres in the box, Lewandowski emphatically dispatched the resulting spot-kick.
Xavi has insisted Barcelona are not in crisis as they look to get their campaign back on track against Alaves.
Pressure has mounted on the Barca boss after an El Clasico defeat was followed by an unconvincing win over Real Sociedad and a midweek Champions League loss to Shakhtar Donetsk.
Reports in the Catalan media claimed the squad had a players-only meeting on Wednesday night to discuss their issues.
But Xavi, whose side trail LaLiga leaders Girona by four points and still top their Champions League group, believes he faced bigger problems last season when he also came in for criticism before leading the club to the Spanish title.
“I had the worst moment as a coach last year,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday.
“What is happening now is not a crisis or anything like that.
“I have experienced terrible crises here and this is not it.
“You almost get used to criticism. This is Barca and you have to accept criticism.
“We have had two bad games and you have to be honest. We haven’t been up to par.”
Xavi is confident the players remain united and believes he has diagnosed the problem.
He said: “We’ve detected the issue. We have to get back to positional play and be more meticulous than ever. That’s how we’ll get better.
“The players are ready. They’re mentally prepared. This is a fantastic group.
“I’ve been in a lot of dressing rooms and this is one of the healthiest and most united I’ve ever seen. We are highly motivated.”
Xavi will again be without the injured Frenkie de Jong on Sunday, while his fellow midfielder Gavi serves a one-match ban after picking up five yellow cards.
But Pedri is “100 per cent”, according to Xavi, and could make his first start since August after coming through two substitute appearances against Real Sociedad and Shakhtar.
Key to Barca’s hopes of hitting form could be getting Robert Lewandowski back among the goals.
The Poland striker is in the middle of his worst goal drought in over a decade having not scored in his last six matches.
Xavi said: “He is in 100 per cent condition. He’s affected by the lack of positional play.
“We haven’t attacked well and we didn’t look after Robert like how we used to do.”
Alaves sit 14th in LaLiga and their only away win this season came against seventh-tier opponents Deportiva Murcia in the Copa del Rey.
Shakhtar Donetsk delayed Barcelona’s hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout stages after claiming a shock 1-0 win in their Group H clash in Hamburg.
Danylo Sikan headed the only goal in the 40th minute from a cross by Giorgi Gocholeishvili, while Shakhtar had a second effort from 18-year-old Newerton ruled out for offside.
The defeat ended Barcelona’s 100 per cent start to the group and enabled Porto to pull level on nine points at the top after they beat 10-man Royal Antwerp 2-0.
Evanilson’s early penalty and a late strike from Pepe sealed victory for the hosts and left the Belgians, who had Jurgen Ekkelencamp sent off in the 52nd minute, still hunting their first points.
Manchester City succeeded where Barca failed and duly booked their spot in the next stage after cruising to a 3-0 win over Young Boys at the Etihad Stadium.
Erling Haaland’s 23rd-minute penalty sent them on their way and superb strikes from Phil Foden and Haaland again sealed victory over the Swiss side, who had Sandro Lauper sent off early in the second half.
Also in Group G, goals from Xavi Simons and Lois Openda proved enough to give RB Leipzig a 2-1 win at Red Star Belgrade.
Atletico Madrid served up another Champions League nightmare for Celtic with both Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morata bagging braces in a 6-0 win at the Metropolitano.
Celtic were left incensed by the sending-off of Daizen Maeda after just 23 minutes following a VAR review of his challenge on Mario Hermoso.
Atletico’s win moved them top of Group E after previous leaders Feyenoord fell 1-0 at Lazio, for whom Ciro Immobile scored the only goal of the game in first half stoppage time.
Goals from Niclas Fullkrug and Julian Brandt proved enough for Borussia Dortmund to sink Newcastle 2-0 in Germany and move to the top of Group F.
Fullkrug scored in the opening period and Brandt’s effort 11 minutes from time dealt a potentially fatal blow to the Magpies’ hopes of progression to the knockout stages.
Paris St Germain lost top spot after a 2-1 defeat at AC Milan despite former Inter defender Milan Skriniar firing them in front after just nine minutes.
Rafael Leao equalised for Milan within three minutes and Olivier Giroud hit what turned out to be the winner five minutes into the second half.
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