Barça seeks to confirm its ‘return’ against an injured Betis
The leader wants to maintain distance at the expense of a rival in low hours but who has a fortress in Villamarín
FC Barcelona visits the Benito Villamarín this Saturday to face Real Betis (4:15 p.m.), on matchday 16 of LaLiga EA Sports, with the purpose of confirming its reaction after the win in Son Moix with another victory against a needy green and white team that has gone four league games without winning.
November was “a month of shit” for FC Barcelona in the words of Hansi Flick, but with the arrival of December and the return of Lamine Yamal, Barça has regained victory. Their win in Son Moix against Mallorca (1-5), led by the young winger, put an end to a three-day streak without a win. A change in trend that Benito Villamarín wants to confirm against a Real Betis that is in full free fall.
The best Barça of the season returned after several erratic games in the League, in which the culé offensive and defensive machinery seemed to have broken down. Hansi Flick’s men recovered their sensations, their aim and their defensive concentration in Mallorca. The Barça attack was fueled again by the best Lamine Yamal who, on his return to the starting lineup after injury, participated in three of his team’s five goals.
With the young winger on the pitch everything works better in Flick’s Barça. Lamine allows Raphinha to occupy his best position on the right wing, and his ease in the last pass and dribbling makes the Barça attack more unpredictable. Against Real Betis, he will also recover his best partner, Robert Lewandowski, in the eleven, who after resting and not playing a minute against Mallorca, will return to the culé line-up.
The Barça team was reunited with defensive concentration after several games of doubts. The return of Alejandro Balde, accompanied by the best version of Jules Koundé, once again gave strength to a Barça defense that continues to have Iñigo Martínez and Pau Cubarsí as its leaders. Furthermore, Casadó, after missing the match against Las Palmas due to suspension, claimed his undisputed role in the pivot in Son Moix, so no rotations are expected in the German coach’s defensive system.
A visit to Villamarín that will be FC Barcelona’s eleventh away game in the League. Of course, the precedents of the Barça team, added to their great performance away from Barcelona throughout this League, invite culé optimism. Barça has had seven league victories in Heliópolis and has not lost in the domestic competition since the 2007-08 season, with a record of 10 wins and three draws.
Furthermore, Real Betis does not arrive at the best moment for the match against the leader. Despite achieving a place in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey against Sant Andreu (1-3) during the week, Manuel Pellegrini’s men are immersed in the worst run of results of the season. They have only won one of their last seven games, and in the League they have gone four games without winning, in which they have only added two points.
A downturn that has precipitated the green and white team in the classification, which has abandoned the European positions, from which they are four points away. The good news for the Beticos is that the team continues to respond in the games played at the Benito Villamarín, where they have only lost one game all season – against Mallorca (1-2) -, and have gone five without losing – -three wins and two draws–.
Regarding sports, Pellegrini recovers Isco Alarcón, who enters his first call-up of the course. Although the bad news for the Chilean is that Jonny Cardoso and Pablo Fornals have not recovered in time for the duel, which is why the young Carlos Guirao is running as the main candidate to be Sergi Altimira’s companion in the double pivot. Another option would be to place fellow youth player Mateo Flores.
A Betis whose greatest danger is in two former FC Barcelona players: Abde and Vitor Roque. The Moroccan winger is the most disruptive player on Pellegrini’s team and, with his goal in the cup win against Sant Andreu, he has already made his debut in all competitions this season. For his part, the Brazilian forward, on loan from Barça, aims to take the lead for the green and white team in a special match in which he will try to demonstrate to his former teammates that he has the level to be in the FC Barcelona squad next season.
The other big doubt in Manuel Pellegrini’s eleven, beyond the midfield, is on the right wing, where he could protect himself from the attacks of Raphinha and Koundé by doubling the side with Sabaly and Aitor Ruibal, or he could bet on an eleven more offensive in which the youth squad Jesús Rodríguez or ‘Chimy’ Ávila, scorer of the first goal in the Cup against Sant Andreu, would enter.
TECHNICAL SHEET.
–POSIBLE ALIGNMENTS:
REAL BETIS: Rui Silva; Sabaly, Llorente, Bartra, Perraud; Altimira, Guirao; Ruibal, Lo Celso, Abde; Vitor Roque.
FC BARCELONA: Iñaki Peña; Koundé, Cubarsí, Iñigo Martínez, Balde; Casado, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Raphinha; Lewandowski.
–REFEREE: Muñiz Ruiz (C. Gallego).
–STADIUM: Benito Villamarín.
–TIME: 16.15/Movistar+ LaLiga.