The league champions are well on track to make it four wins in a row, right before their UCL opener against Royal Antwerp. They last visited Osasuna before the break, a tightly wound contest at El Sadar that ended up in the Blaugrana's favour, thanks to Jules Koundé and Robert Lewandowski. This is the second time since 2005 that Barcelona are clinching back to back victories in Pamplona. Their wins against Cádiz, Villarreal and Osasuna have not been 'Barça-level' convincing, but a win's a win. They will however, want to improve on that; not just winning, but winning with flair. That is the only way they can defeat their next opponents, as they always have.
Real Betis have had a decent start to the season, accruing 7 points so far. They returned to winning ways right before the break, with a sumptous Willian José freekick the difference between them and Rayo Vallecano. That kept them in 7th on the table. Before then, they dropped points against Atletico Madrid and Athletic Club. Their summer window has bolstered the squad with additional quality in the likes of Isco and Ez Abde. They have European commitments as well, as they will be hosted by Rangers in Scotland. Barcelona have become one of their worst opponents, and they'll need a superhuman performance (and luck) to get anything out of this game.
INTERESTING STATS
- Having met 137 times before, Barcelona have won 83 times and lost to Real Betis on just 30 occasions.
- Barcelona have won their last 3 and 8 of their last 9 clashes with Real Betis.
- Barcelona have lost only 2 of their last 23 clashes with Real Betis, although both came at home: 4-3 in November 2018 and 1-0 in December 2021.
- Barcelona have dropped points in 4 of their last eight La Liga games, as much as in their previous 19.
Last five meetings
29/04/23 (LIGA) Barça 4 -0 Betis
01/02/23 (LIGA) Betis 1-2 Barça
12/01/23 (SUPER CUP) Betis 2-2 Barça (Barça won on pens)
07/05/22 (LIGA) Betis 1-2 Barça
04/12/21 Barça 0-1 Betis
TEAM NEWS
Barcelona
Save for the scare from Gündoğan, Barcelona have come through the international break unscathed for the first time in a while. Burnout is also a major fear at this point, because the games will be coming thick and fast. Rotation will be in Xavi's mind going forward.
Ronald Araujo and Pedri remain unavailable for selection, though they're positively close to a return. Iñigo Martinez has seemingly trained well and we could see him in the starting XI soon, especially with Andreas Christensen's fitness a bit on the fence.
Marc Andre TerStegen, Alejandro Balde, João Cancelo and Jules Koundé are expected to maintain their spots. Gündoğan will likely drop to the bench, which means Gavi returns to the midfield to join DeJong and Romeu. Fermin Lopez is also unavailable to to suspension accrued from Barça Athletic. João Felix will likely anchor the LW and support Lewandowski in attack. Raphinha, having just returned from Brazil, may not be ready to start, which means Lamine Yamal might get his 3rd consecutive La Liga start. Ferran Torres will be waiting to come in and make an impact.
Real Betis
Manuel Pellegrini will be missing Aitor Ruibal, Claudio Bravo, William Carvalho and Nabil Fekir through injury. Luiz Enrique just got declared fit enough to be included in the squad list.
Despite the injuries, Pellegrini's squad still boasts of reasonable quality, especially with the additions of Barça players Ez Abde and Chadi Riad.
Rui Silva will guard the post and be protected by the back four of Bellerin, Pezzella, Bartra and Abner. Rumoured Barça target Guido Rodriguez and Marc Roca will anchor the midfield, with Isco playing behind Willian José and flanked by Rodri and Ayoze Perez.
When are Barcelona vs Real Betis playing?
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Stadium: Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys
Date: Saturday 16 September
Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT
Referee: Jose Sanchez
VAR: TBC
Real Betis, despite the overwhelmingly negative head to head vs Barcelona, have always been tricky customers for the Blaugrana. They love to dominate possession and play their way to their back of the net.
Barcelona are however, better at that game than they are and should be able to win this clash. This is Barça's first chance to go top of the table, pending the Real Madrid and Girona games. They shouldn't waste it.