Barcelona will take on Villarreal in La Liga on Sunday, 18 May, and it will be a day of celebration for the hosts after they were confirmed as champions earlier in the week.
Barcelona defeated city rivals, Espanyol, 2-0 on Thursday evening to wrestle the La Liga title away from Real Madrid and their fans will be keen to celebrate on Sunday, their final home match of the season.
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It could also be a day of celebration for Villarreal. They only need one more point from their final two games to secure a return to the Champions League next season.
How the bookies view it: Barcelona start as favourites
Barcelona come into this match as the odds-on favourites with BoyleSports, despite the fact that they only played on Thursday and now have nothing to play for with the title wrapped up. BoyleSports have priced a home win at 4/5, while a win for Villarreal has been priced at 21/10. The draw, which would be enough for the visitors, has been priced at 14/5.
Head to head: Advantage Barcelona
Barcelona will be feeling confident ahead of this one as they have won four of their last five matches against Villarreal, including a 5-1 hammering earlier this season. All is not lost for the visitors, though, as they did record an impressive 5-3 victory in last season's corresponding fixture at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona.
Players to watch: Baena and Perez to smell blood
Given the circumstances around the match, this is definitely a good opportunity for Villarreal to pull off an unlikely victory on Sunday evening.
If they are to triumph in Catalonia, then one of (or both) Alex Baena and Ayoze Perez will surely need to be at their best. The duo have combined for 24 goals and 12 assists in La Liga this season and are both a big reason why the club find itself on the brink of a return to the Champions League.
Perez, in particular, has been in sensational form lately. He scored a brace last weekend in the win over Leganes and got another double two weeks prior against Osasuna. In total, he has scored seven goals in his last nine La Liga appearances.
Predicted line-ups
Barcelona are expected to make changes after securing the title, and some of them will be forced. Inigo Martinez returns from suspension,n but Ronald Araujo's attendance is in doubt after being forced off with a muscle injury on Thursday night. Villarreal are missing four players through injury – Ilias Akhomach, Raul Albiol, Thierno Barry and Kiko Femenia.
Barcelona: Szczesny– Garcia, Cubarsi, Martinez, Balde – Pedri, De Jong – Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha – Lewandowski
Villarreal: Luiz Jr – Foyth, Kambwala, Costa, Pedraza – Parejo, Gueye – Pepe, Baena, Pino – Perez
Anything else catch the eye?
Matches between these two teams in recent times have been high-scoring affairs, and there is no reason to believe Sunday will be any different. A total of 21 goals have gone in across the last three meetings between Barcelona and Villarreal, and over 3.5 goals has been priced at 20/23 by BoyleSports.
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