Numbers don't lie: Deportivo Alavés threatens Barcelona's prestige

Between the Camp Nou curse and the May shock

Barcelona host Deportivo Alavés today, Saturday, at the Spotify Camp Nou in the eleventh round of La Liga, eager to keep their strong home form rolling. The numbers around this one are striking: the hosts want to confirm their historical superiority, while the visitors are hunting a repeat of their last meeting.

Ahead of kick-off, the Opta network, which specialises in statistics, dug out a set of intriguing facts. Chief among them is that Alavés ended Barcelona's long unbeaten run against them in La Liga, winning one goal to nil last May. That result dragged a rare memory back into focus, one that has happened only once before in these sides' history.

The defeat snapped a run of 16 straight matches for Barcelona without loss against Alavés in the competition, a stretch that brought 14 wins and two draws. Only once before had the Catalans lost two consecutive league matches to Alavés, back between 1999 and 2000.

The historical picture at Barcelona's stadium offers Alavés little comfort. They are mired in a dismal run of 8 consecutive league matches without a win away at the Catalans, managing one draw against 7 defeats.

Their last win at the Camp Nou dates back to September 2016, a 2-1 triumph with Mauricio Pellegrino in charge and Luis Enrique on the opposite bench.

Barcelona, meanwhile, carry a striking attacking number into the game. They have scored in their last 36 home matches in La Liga, netting 108 goals. It is their longest home scoring run in the competition since 2014, when they found the net in 56 consecutive matches for 193 goals.

Alavés arrive in rough shape. Winless in their last 6 La Liga matches, with two draws against 4 defeats, they stand on the brink of a slump not seen since January 2025, when they went 7 games without a win on the back of 4 draws and 3 defeats.

The gulf between the two sides runs deeper than results, reaching into style and possession. Barcelona top the chart for passing sequences of 10 passes or more in open play this 2026-2027 season, pulling it off on 245 occasions.

Alavés sit near the bottom of that same list with just 54 sequences. Only Getafe, on 33, and Sevilla, on 51, rank lower, a gap that lays bare the contrast in how these teams play.

Barcelona's dominance shows, too, in how rarely they trail. No team has spent less time behind in the league this season, a total of just 43 minutes, and they are one of five clubs yet to drop a point after taking the lead, alongside Levante, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad and Real Madrid.

Historical superiority at home, an exceptional scoring run, Alavés's away struggles: everything points to another routine test for Barcelona. Yet last May's result is a sharp reminder that these visitors can tear up the script.