FC Barcelona look to send neighbors Espanyol down

Espanyol could be the first team in this season's La Liga to be relegated to the Spanish second division if they fail to win the Barcelona city derby in the Camp Nou on Wednesday night, reported Xinhua.

Espanyol travel across town with just 24 points from 34 matches after a catastrophic campaign which has seen them win just five matches and sack three first team coaches.

The team are being coached by director of sport Francisco Perez Rufete until the end of the season, after David Gallego, Pablo Machin and Abelardo Fernandez were all sacked as the season progressed.

The arrival of Abelardo and the signing of striker Raul de Tomas in January briefly offered hope of survival, but a run of just one draw and five defeats from their last six games means the club owned by Chen Yansheng needs a miracle to avoid relegation, as they sit 11 points from safety with just 12 points left to play for.

FC Barcelona need a win to close the gap on Real Madrid at the top of the table to one point, while memories of how Espanyol striker Raul Tamudo scored two late goals in the penultimate game of the 2006-07 season to virtually hand the league title to Madrid have never been forgotten or forgiven by the Barca faithful, who would like nothing better than to send their neighbors down.

Espanyol will be without striker Jonathan Calleri in the Camp Nou, which means China's Wu Lei is likely to start for Rufete's side.

Meanwhile, Barca are without the injured Samuel Umtiti, Frenkie De Jong and Junior Firpo for the game, but face Espanyol off the back of their best performance of the season, winning 4-1 away to Villarreal on Sunday night.

That game finally saw Antoine Griezmann link effectively with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, and the three are likely to start on Wednesday as Barca look to maintain their title hopes and Espanyol look to delay the inevitable for another few days.