Under the lights of the Benito Villamarin, two clubs fight for inspiration to get their La Liga campaigns going.
The month of January has been filled with drama for teams in the Spanish top flight, as no one will be making it out unscathed. With the Copa del Rey knockout stages well underway, there has been little time to ruminate on previous performances before the next game comes up. Like Barcelona, for example. No time to lick their wounds after a brutal Supercup final. They had to rally hard in Salamanca to advance into the next stage of the cup tournament and now travel to Seville to take on Betis in La Liga, before resuning Copa del Rey duties in San Mames in 4 days time. The Catalan giants find themselves deeply embroiled in the race for top 4 following mixed performances here and there, but a victory in Seville could tip the scales in their favour.
Real Betis have had an interesting January themselves. Unlike their visitors, their Copa del Rey journey ended 2 weeks ago at the hands of Alaves. They've endured a mixed season as well, demoted from the UEL to the UECL and currently sit 7th in the league standings. They haven't exactly been winning recently, save for the 1-0 win against Granada the last time out courtesy of an Isco strike, but they've been difficult to beat, especially at home, where they are yet to lose this season. The race for Europe will become even more fascinating in the coming weeks and Real Betis know they'll have to start picking up the wins if they're going to remain in that conversation.
INTERESTING STATS
-Real Betis have suffered defeat in nine out of their last ten matches against Barcelona in the league.
-The Catalan giants have been unbeaten in their last 12 away league matches against Betis.
-The home team have played out a draw on ten out of their 20 league games this season.
-Barcelona have the fifth-best attack in the league with 36 goals in 19 outings.
Betis have only won one out of their last five league games.
- Coming into this clash, Real Betis are unbeaten at home, while Barcelona are unbeaten away from home.
Last five meetings
16/9/23 (LIGA) Barça 5-0 Betis
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
TEAM NEWS
Real Betis
Pellegrini will be missing a few key players due to injury, like Aitor Ruibal, Ayoze Perez, Juan Miranda, Guido Rodriguez, Claudio Bravo and Marc Bartra. Ez Abde, Youssef Sabaly and Chadi Riad are unavailable through international duties. Hector Bellerin has returned to fitness just in time to make the squad list.
Rui Silva is expected to continue in goal. German Pezzella and Sokratis Papastathopoulos will be the central defenders, helped out by fullbacks Abner Vinicius and Pablo Busto. Marc Roca, Sergi Altimira and Isco will anchor the midfield, while Luiz Enrique and Assane Diao will support Willian Jose or Borja Iglesias in attack. Nabil Fekir and Rodri are also available for selection.
Barcelona
The injury list remains more or less the same for Xavi with one recent addition. TerStegen, Alonso, Martinez, Gavi and Cancelo remain on the sidelines. Lamine Yamal and Ronald Araujo however, return to the fold after serving out their respective suspensions. Pau Cubarsà came on for the injured Andreas Christensen (who misses out on the trip to Seville) against Unionistas and gave a decent showing in the Copa del Rey and has been called up once more, alongside Hector Fort, Marc Guiu, Diego Kochen and Ander Astralaga.
Iñaki Pena will be looking for redemption between the sticks after some unconvincing performances as of late. The same goes for Ronald Araujo in defense. Jules Koundé and Alejandro Balde made slight amends for their recent errors midweek in the Copa del Rey with superb goals, but they'll need to build on that. Does Roberto start at right back, or has Cubarsà or Fort done enough to warrant their first starts in La Liga?
Gündoghan, Dejong and Pedri should return to midfield, while Robert lewandowski will anchor the attack, supported by two of or João Felix, Ferran Torres or Lamine Yamal. Vitor Roque and Marc Guiu will be available to make an impact off the bench.
What time does Real Betis vs Barcelona kick-off?
Location: Seville, Spain
Stadium: Estadio Benito Villamarin
Date: Sunday 21 January
Kick-off Time: 17:30 GMT / 12:30 ET / 09:30 PT
Referee: Jesus Gil Manzano
VAR: Carlos del Cerro Grande
Real Betis haven't had the best runs lately, and neither has Barcelona. Both have remained unbeaten on the home and away fronts so far, respectively. Neither side can afford to be on the wrong end of the score line. This makes the contest all the more intriguing. To the victor goes the spoils.