With very little left to play for this season, Barcelona look to finish off a disappointing campaign full of near-misses as they host Valencia in a La Liga match on Monday.
Humbled in El Clasico last weekend amidst a controversial finish, Barcelona now sit 11 points behind leaders Real Madrid with six games remaining, mathematically still in the title race but realistically all but put to the sword. Out of the Champions League and Copa del Rey as well, there is nothing left for Barca to fight for except to hold off third-place Girona who sit two points back and would love nothing more than to end the season above the Catalan giants.
Xavi could have potentially been coaching for his future at the club, but after reports of his agreement to an extension, there's not even that motivation to drive them the rest of the way.
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Valencia, meanwhile, have European qualification squarely on the line across their last six games of the season. Sitting eighth in the table, they are one measly point behind seventh-placed Real Betis, and four back of sixth-place Real Sociedad. With Athletic Club winning the Copa del Rey and almost surely qualifying for Europe through table position, seventh will likely be good enough for a Europa Conference League spot.
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Barcelona have very little to play for this season, and while a few young players will have reason to earn playing time heading into the coming campaign, other more tenured players will be lacking motivation to perform at the highest level.
Additionally, Barcelona have suffered three of their four league defeats at home this season, while
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