Almería vs barcelona

With second-placed Real Madrid drawing on Saturday, Barca knew a win on Sunday would take them 10 points clear. But El Bilal Toure's superb first-half strike settled the game to boost Almeria's hopes of avoiding relegation. It is Barca's second big loss this week following Thursday's Europa League exit at the hands of Manchester United. Prior to that 3-2 defeat in Manchester, they had gone unbeaten in 18 matches in all competitions. The loss to Almeria ends a seven-game winning streak in La Liga for Xavi's side. The home side should have won by more but Leo Baptistao's strike was blocked by goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Rodrigo Ely then missed a sitter from close-range, sending wide a header from a corner when he was all alone in the area. "I'm very angry because I think we made the worst game of the season by far, mainly in the first half," Barca boss Xavi told Movistar Plus. "We were not good and wasted a great opportunity in a match we could not afford to lose after what happened to Real Madrid. "It was a golden opportunity today and it ended with a really bad day for us. No excuses, it was the worst showing of our side in the entire season." 16 Suárez 9 Touré • 13 Martínez Booked at 87mins • 21 Brandáriz Movilla Booked at 53mins • 19 Ely • 22 Babic • 15 Akieme • 12 Micali Carrilho Baptistão Substituted for de Almeida Costa at 83' minutes • 6 de la Hoz • 4 Eguaras Substituted for Pozo at 83' minutes • 5 Robertone Booked at 47mins Substituted for Ramazani at 76' minu...

Barcelona will look to get back on track after suffering a rare loss when they tangle with Almeria in Spanish La Liga action on Sunday. Barcelona (19-1-2 in LaLiga), who has won seven consecutive league matches, dropped a 2-1 decision to Manchester United in the Europa League. They defeated Cadiz 2-0 last Sunday. Almeria (6-12-4) has lost three in a row, including a 6-2 decision at Girona on Feb. 17. Almeria are winless in their 13 games against Barcelona in La Liga with 11 losses and two draws. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. ET. Caesars Sportsbook lists Barcelona as the -230 favorites (risk $235 to win $100) in its latest Barcelona vs. Almeria odds, with Almeria the +575 underdogs. A draw is priced at +360 and the over/under for total goals scored is 2.5. Before locking in any Almeria vs. Barcelona picks, you need to Sutton, a former collegiate soccer player, has been SportsLine's top soccer editor for more than five years. He has followed soccer closely for much longer and factors in managerial tactics, projected lineups and past performances to make the most-informed decisions possible, keeping his finger on the pulse of the game all over the globe. Sutton finished 2022 as SportsLine's top soccer expert with a 165-130-2 mark, returning nearly $2,200 for $100 players. He's continued his success following the World Cup, going 36-27 on all soccer picks since that point, returning almost $900 for $100 players. Now, Sutton has taken a close look at the Almeria vs. Barcelona m...

After crashing out of Europa League, Barcelona will need to quickly refocus to continue their dominance in La Liga on Sunday. Facing an Almeria side that is mired in the relegation zone, Barcelona can afford to rest some players but the team will still want to win the match to put more distance between themselves and Real Madrid in second place. Here's our storylines, how you can watch the match and more: How to watch and odds • Date: Sunday, Feb. 26 | Time: 12:30 p.m. ET • Location: Power Horse Stadium -- Almeria, Spain • TV: None | Live stream: ESPN+ • Odds: Almeria +575; Draw +360; Barcelona -230 (via Caesars Sportsbook) Storylines Almeria: With one of the worst defensive records in La Liga, Almeria will have tough sledding against Barcelona's star studded attack. Allowing 14 goals in their last five matches, the six goals that Girona put past Almeria will be especially demoralizing with Robert Lewandowski coming to town. Almeria has had a slightly better defensive record at home only conceding 1.82 goals per game but scoring about a goal per match, that won't be enough. Barcelona: Almost unbeatable this season, this is a match where it will be interesting to see how Barcelona responds to disappointment. Averaging just over two goals per game, Barcelona should be able to emerge victoriously barring quite a collapse in the match. Xavi will be without Pedri and Ousmane Dembele, both of whom could return from injuries in mid-March, while Ansu Fatai could also miss the matc...