5 tricky away games that could decide Barcelona’s title chances this season
Barcelona is one of the most successful clubs in the world. They have dominated Spanish and European football for many seasons in the recent past. They are the current La Liga Champions and looking to win their 26th Spanish league title.
They have won the league title on 9 occasions in the past 14 seasons. However, at least on a couple of occasions in the past 10 to 15 years, teams like Valencia and Atletico Madrid have defeated Barcelona to win the league title.
A teams capacity to win league titles depends on their ability to win games consistently and master the art of winning games away from home. Away games are always tricky, irrespective of who the opponents are.
Barcelona lost the La Liga title to Atletico Madrid during the 2013/14 season and one of the major reason behind the failure was their inability to win games away from home, especially against the weaker opponents. They have lost games against Athletic Bilbao, Granada, Real Sociedad, and Valladolid, and that has caused their downfall.
Though the Catalan giants are currently at the top of the La Liga table, they are struggling to win games away from home. Not less than a week ago, Valverde’s men lost 2-1 on their trip to Leganes. They have also struggled to beat Valladolid and Real Sociedad on the road this season.
Without much ado, let’s take a look at the 5 tricky away games that could decide Barcelona’s title chances this season.
#5 Valencia vs Barcelona, 7 October 2018
Valencia is one of the most successful clubs in La Liga history. They are one of the very few clubs, other than Real Madrid and Barcelona, to win the Spanish league title. Mestalla stadium is always a tough place to play for an away team.
Valencia finished fourth in the La Liga last campaign as teams like Atletico Madrid and Barcelona have failed to beat Valencia at the Mestalla.
Meetings between these two sides are always close contests. Barcelona beat Valencia 2-1 at Camp Nou last season but needed a late goal from Jordi Alba to drew 1-1 at Mestalla. In the last three outings between these sides at Mestalla, Barcelona finished victorious on only one occasion.
UEFA Champions League away trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday could make this game an even trickier one for the Catalan giants.