Barcelona Poised to Celebrate La Liga Title Tonight

Barcelona will have the chance to secure the Spanish La Liga title when they visit local rivals Espanyol tonight, Thursday, on Matchday 36. A win would be enough to end the title race with archrivals Real Madrid, who are now four points behind after their 2-1 victory over Mallorca last night.

Barça are expected to unleash their entertaining attacking play in this encounter, a derby they have historically dominated, despite the confirmed season-ending absence of forward Ferran Torres, who underwent emergency surgery to remove his appendix.

As a result, German coach Hansi Flick has brought Polish striker Robert Lewandowski back into the lineup after he missed the previous match against Real Madrid. According to Catalan newspaper Sport, Lewandowski will be in the starting XI against Espanyol, as will Danish defender Andreas Christensen, who will replace the suspended Iñigo Martínez. Flick is expected to retain nine other players from the side that played in El Clásico.

The match presents an opportunity for Lewandowski to reignite the battle for La Liga’s top scorer. He currently has 25 goals, including three penalties, while Real Madrid’s French star Kylian Mbappé leads the chart with 28 goals, seven of which have come from the spot.

Here are key stats and indicators to help you predict the correct result and win valuable prizes with Betway:

• Espanyol have not won any of their last 27 La Liga matches against Barcelona (7 draws, 20 losses), marking the longest winless streak for any team in a regional derby in the competition’s history.
• Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 15 La Liga away matches against Espanyol (8 wins, 7 draws). If they avoid defeat in this derby, they will equal their longest unbeaten away streak against a single opponent in the competition, which was set against Villarreal between 2008 and 2024 (16 matches – 12 wins, 4 draws).
• Barcelona have won 103 of their 177 La Liga matches against Espanyol (40 draws, 34 losses).
• Espanyol have lost their last three La Liga matches—equal to the number of defeats they suffered in their previous 17 games in the competition (6 wins, 8 draws, 3 losses).
• Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 16 La Liga matches (14 wins, 2 draws), their best run without defeat in the league since a 19-match streak between December 2020 and April 2021 (16 wins, 3 draws).
• Barcelona have scored 95 goals in 35 matches during the 2024/2025 La Liga season. Excluding the Messi era at Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo’s era at Real Madrid, no team has scored that many goals in as few matches since Real Madrid in the 1989/1990 season (97 goals).
• Barça star Raphinha is one of only two players in Europe’s top five leagues this season to have recorded 20+ goals (34) and 20+ assists (22) in all competitions, alongside Mohamed Salah (33 goals and 23 assists).
• Barcelona midfielder Pedri has recovered possession 238 times in La Liga—more than any other player in the competition. It’s also the highest number for a Barcelona player in a single season since Sergio Busquets recorded 281 recoveries in the 2021/2022 season.

Bet on the thrilling Catalan derby and La Liga title decider with Betway, the best online betting site in Egypt, offering unbeatable odds on Barcelona vs Espanyol.