The Albany Gazette - Barca hoping to end torrid Liga form against improving Valencia

The Catalan giants have just one victory in their last eight league games and have dropped seven points behind champions and current leaders Real Madrid.

Valencia visit the Olympic stadium on the back of an impressive 1-0 home win against Real Sociedad last weekend, with the team already looking stronger under new coach Carlos Corberan.

The former West Bromwich Albion coach was appointed on Christmas day, and his side came close to taking points off Madrid in a narrow 2-1 defeat in his first outing.

Los Che have also won two cup games in January to reach the quarter-finals, where they will also face Barcelona.

Their win over Real Sociedad helped them climb off the bottom of the table to 19th, four points from safety.

Corberan and Co face a Barcelona side that has scored five goals in three of their last four matches, but their only league game in that period finished in a frustrating 1-1 draw at Getafe last Saturday.

Valencia will take note of how the Madrid minnows' low block defence caused Hansi Flick's side a great deal of difficulty to break down and will likely follow suit.

Flick said his team also had to work on their defensive mistakes against Benfica ahead of the Valencia clash.

"It's important we speak about this, because the next opponents will look at this match and we have to make it better, and we will do that," said the German coach.

"We will train on this, if it's possible, or we can (discuss it) in the meeting, we can do some technical things.

"We analyse everything and we'll show (the players) what we have to do better."

La Liga's top goalscorer Robert Lewandowski netted twice in midweek from the penalty spot but has only produced one goal in his last five league matches.

Getafe also managed to keep Barca's teenage starlet Lamine Yamal quiet, which few other sides have managed this season.

Corberan called on his Valencia team to keep improving ahead of the trip to Barcelona.

"We have to keep growing, I'm going to get the most out of every game we play," said the Valencia coach.

"I'm not here to say that we have to grow for the sake of it, it's a reality of football.

"The team is increasing in terms of personality, dedication, commitment and it's very important to consolidate that."

Valencia have only been relegated once in the club's history, in 1986, and were promoted the following year.

Their improvement under Corberan will be confirmed if they can take even a point from title challengers Barcelona, which could prove vital come the end of the season.

Player to watch: Julian Alvarez

The former Manchester City striker has recently struck top form for Atletico Madrid, netting twice to earn them a vital comeback triumph in the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen in midweek. He and Antoine Griezmann are forming a strong partnership up front which is powering their title bid, which continues with the visit of high-flying Villarreal on Saturday.

Key stats:

22 - Barcelona winger Raphinha has already scored more goals this season across all competitions than in any other campaign

48 - Osasuna's Lucas Torro is La Liga's biggest fouler

75 - Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe has had the most shots of any player

Fixtures

Friday (all times GMT)

Las Palmas v Osasuna (2000)

Saturday

Mallorca v Real Betis (1300), Atletico Madrid v Villarreal (1515), Sevilla v Espanyol (1730), Valladolid v Real Madrid (2000)

Sunday

Rayo Vallecano v Girona (1300), Real Sociedad v Getafe (1515), Athletic Bilbao v Leganes (1730), Barcelona v Valencia (2000)

Monday

Alaves v Celta Vigo (2000)

(F.Allen--TAG)