Barca hope to regain league form

Barcelona will hope to get back into their stride as they travel to Almeria in the Primera Division this weekend.

Luis Enrique's side have been beaten in their last two La Liga matches with their loss to rivals Real Madrid a fortnight ago followed by last week's home reverse to Celta Vigo.

Spirits were lifted in midweek with a 2-0 Champions League victory at Ajax - in which Lionel Messi struck twice to equal the competition's goalscoring record - and now they hope to kick on.

Midfielder Ivan Rakitic told his club's official website: "It is always important to carry on like this. We've just had a difficult week.

"Thankfully, there's a new game every two or three days and we'll need to keep working for the next few games."

Barca have not lost three league games in succession since 2003 and it would be a shock if they were to slip up again.

The Catalan giants have a strong record against Almeria having won eight of the 10 top-flight encounters between the two clubs. They achieved a club record-equalling away win - 8-0 - on their visit to Juegos Mediterraneos in 2010 and Messi has scored 10 goals in nine league games against the Andaluscian side. Six of those goals have come in away games.

Despite the recent losses, their position in the table heading into the latest round of fixtures remains strong, just two points behind leaders Real.

Almeria, 14th, have yet to win at home at this term but Barca's recent form could give them hope of an upset.

Defender Angel Trujillo said on the competition's official website: "We will try to compete at the top and make a game for as long as possible.

"We have to approach the game with the utmost confidence and intensity. For a team like ours, this fixture must serve as motivation.

"Against Barca we cannot think we will take the initiative but we will emphasise not making mistakes."

Barca's preparations were disrupted slightly as they were unable to fly back from Amsterdam on Wednesday night due to an aircraft fault. They spent an extra night in Holland before returning to hold a recovery session later on Thursday.