The lowdown on Granada CF – FC Barcelona

The city

With a population of around 470,000 people, the beautiful Andalusian city of Granada sits beneath the Sierra Nevada, about an hour by car from the Mediterranean coast, and is a popular destination for students and tourists alike. Its most famous monument is the Alhambra, an Arab citadel and palace.

Granada Club de Ftbol was founded in 1931, and its greatest achievement was reaching the cup final in 1959, which it lost 4-1 to Bara. The team generally hovered between the first and second divisions, but from the 1980s onwards spent three decades in the lower leagues.

Recent years have sparked a revival. Granada was back in La Liga for the first time in 35 years in 2011. And after dropping back to the second for the last two years, the Nazares (the nickname comes from the Moorish dynasty that ruled Granada in the Middle Ages) won their way back into the top flight last season.

The 19,336 capacity Nuevo Estadio de Los Crmenes was opened in 1995 and although it is on a different site to the former Los Crmenes, it has retained the name, which refers to the typical villas with gardens.

Players with international caps: Maxime Gonalons (France, 8), Roberto Soldado (Spain, 12), smail Kyba (Turkey, 23), Ramon Azeez (Nigeria, 4), Adrin Ramos (Colombia, 37), Yangel Herrera (Venezuela, 15), Darwin Machs (Venezuela, 19)

Players with a Bara past: Jos Antonio Martnez (Bara B)

Most Liga goals 2019/20: Antonio Puertas (2)

Most Liga assists 2019/20: ngel Montoro (3, joint top in La Liga with Ander Capa of Athletic)

Diego Martnez spent most of his coaching career in various roles at Sevilla, and after managing Osasuna for the 2017/18 season he joined Granada and guided them to second place Division 2 last season.

FC Barcelona v Granada (1-0)

Its been a fine start to the season for Granada, where curiously their sole defeat has come in their only home fixture so far, the Andalusian derby with Sevilla:

Villarreal 4-4 GranadaGranada 0-1 SevillaEspanyol 0-3 GranadaCelta 0-2 Granada

Bara lost 1-0 when they went to Granada in 2014, but won the other 15 of the last 16 meetings between the sides.

Granada have a 2-2-2 record against teams coached by Ernesto Valverde, but this will be the first time they have faced him as Bara manager.

Los Nuevos Crmenes was the place where Bara clinched the 2015/16 league title with a 3-0 victory (all thanks to a Luis Surez hat-trick) on the final day of the championship. The only time we have been back since, we won 4-1. Lets hope the good form continues on Saturday.

Manager Diego Martnez: Not even the most optimistic of our fans imagined wed have seven points after four games Facing Bara is not a problem, its a blessing considering that last September we were in the second division."

Venezuela international Yangel Herrera: "This team always goes out to compete whoever we are playing. We know that Bara are a great team, and what they do, but if we work hard we can cause them damage. Were optimistic about this match.

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The lowdown on Granada CF - FC Barcelona