Barcelona v Malaga

Barcelona and Malaga meet at Camp Nou on Wednesday, May 2, 2012. Game kicks-off at 19:00 GMT.

Teams News

Barcelona

Two days after Pep Guardiola announced his resignation as manager, Barcelona bounced from a week of disappointing games big time. A 7-0 win against Rayo Vallecano that saw five different players get in the score-sheet was a big-enough despedida to Guardiola who still has four games to see off before he finally leaves the club.

While the chase for major trophies has been cut short, Barcelona still has the Copa del Ray to play for, and Guardiola will of course want to end his tenure as club manager on a winning note. He will also look to use the remaining league games to keep his team sharp before they meet Bilbao for the Copa.

Should Guardiola win the Copa this season, he will be leaving the club with 14 trophies in four years. That’s three more trophies than Johan Cruyff’s haul of eleven, making Guardiola the most successful Barcelona manager to date.

Malaga

A 1-0 win against Valencia last outing means that Malaga is a step closer to Champions League qualification next season. Beating Valencia also keeps them in stride for a third-place finish; at the moment only Los Che’s superior goal difference is keeping them off the third spot.

At the moment, Los Boquerones ranked 12th in terms of form. Their inability to score more goals than one in their last four outings has cost them dearly as in the last five games, Unai Emery and his troops dropped points in three occasions.

Despite the recent inability to get to two goals in a game, Malaga boasts a total of 15 players on the score-sheet. That’s quite impressive considering the average age of the squad that features 12 players that are in between the ages of 28 and 35.

Barcelona v Malaga Betting Preview

Malaga still has the Champions League qualification to play for, while the Barcelona is comfortably secured at second place. With the La Liga title going to Real Madrid, Malaga definitely has more at stake in this game than their hopes, and this could see them score an upset this Wednesday. Pep however would not want to ruin his remaining record with the club, so it’s likely that he will field a potent starting XI for the game (perhaps minus Xavi who will definitely do a lot better with limited minutes to allow his calf injury to recover).

Betting Tip

Verdict: Barcelona has not lost a game against Malaga in their last six. This game looks destined for the hosts, 3-2.

Tip: A Malaga win at 14/1 is almost too tempting to deny. Well, an upset can happen anytime and the risks could be rewarded big time. A final score of 3-2 in favour of Barcelona is at 25/1. This is a good wager as well, considering that when Barcelona is playing the score-line is always too unpredictable for comfort.

All odds are from Bet365.com (£200 FREE BET!).