Barcelona's defence of their La Liga title will begin on Sunday evening, with the Catalan outfit making the trip to Coliseum Alfonso Perez to face Getafe.

Xavi's side finished 10 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid at the top of the table last season, while Getafe ended the campaign down in 15th position, only narrowly avoiding relegation to the second tier.

Match preview

Getafe have only spent one season out of the top flight of Spanish football since 2004, but they have now finished 15th in each of their last three campaigns, which is a huge drop-off considering that the capital outfit were eighth, fifth and eighth between 2018 and 2020.

The Deep Blue Ones had a scare last season, with their survival going to the final day, but they managed to finish two points clear of 18th-placed Real Valladolid to stay in the division.

Jose Bordalas's side have been active this summer in terms of the transfer market, boosting their squad with the arrivals of Omar Alderete, Gaston Alvarez, Portu, Choco Lozano, Sergi Altimira, Jose Angel Carmona and Daniel Fuzato.

There have also been a number of departures, including Munir El Haddadi, Angel Algobia and Jaime Seoane, so there will be a fresh look about the squad in the new campaign.

Getafe played six pre-season friendlies over the summer, recording four wins in the process, and they will enter this match off the back of a morale-boosting 4-1 success over Vitesse.

Barcelona were comfortably the best side in La Liga last season, winning 28, drawing four and losing six of their 38 matches to collect 88 points, which left them 10 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid.

The Catalan outfit have had a difficult summer to date due to their financial issues, though, only being able to add Ilkay Gundogan, Inigo Martinez and Oriol Romeu to their squad.

Franck Kessie, Nico Gonzalez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba are among those to have left, while Ousmane Dembele's move to Paris Saint-Germain will be confirmed in the near future, so it is vital that the Catalan outfit bring in another attacker before the end of the transfer window.

Barcelona won four of their five friendlies over the summer, including a 4-2 success over Tottenham Hotspur in the Joan Gamper Trophy final last time out, while they beat Real Madrid 3-0 at the end of July.

Head coach Xavi will know the importance of making a winning start to the campaign, but the Catalan side have been held to goalless draws on their last two visits to Getafe, while Barcelona only narrowly won 1-0 when the teams locked horns at Camp Nou last season.

Team News

Getafe will be missing Mauro Arambarri until the latter stages of the month due to an ankle injury, while Luis Milla and Enes Unal are also on the sidelines for the home side.

Alderete and Portu could make their official debuts for the club this weekend, having been on loan last season, while the likes of Carmona and Lozano are also pushing to be involved from the first whistle.

There should be a familiar look to the Getafe XI on Sunday, though, with Juanmi Latasa set to get the nod in the final third of the field alongside Portu and Jaime Mata.

Barcelona, meanwhile, are expected to be able to call upon key defenders Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen despite recent injury concerns.

Inigo Martinez, though, is still struggling with a foot problem and is expected to miss out this weekend.

Gundogan should line up in central midfield for the away side, with Gavi potentially playing further forward on the opposite side to Raphinha, with Dembele on the verge of joining PSG.

There will once again be pressure on Robert Lewandowski to score the goals this season, with the Poland international netting 33 times in all competitions during the 2022-23 campaign.

Getafe possible starting lineup:
Soria; Suarez, Mitrovic, Alderete, Angileri; Alena, Dakonam, Maksimovic; Portu, Latasa, Mata

Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; Pedri, De Jong, Gundogan; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Gavi

We say: Getafe 0-1 Barcelona

There have not been many goals in the recent meetings between these two sides, and their last two fixtures in this stadium have finished 0-0. We are expecting Barcelona to navigate their way to all three points on the opening weekend, but it could be an uncomfortable match for Xavi's side.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Previews by email