Barça appeals to the spirit of Montjuïc against Sevilla
The ‘culers’ seek to put pressure on Girona and Madrid after losing the lead in Mallorca
BARCELONA, 28 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
FC Barcelona receives Sevilla FC this Friday at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys (9:00 p.m.), on Matchday 8 of LaLiga EA Sports, with the intention of recovering the provisional leadership, the good feelings and the streak of victories lost with the draw in Mallorca, against a Sevilla FC that is finding good dynamics and will be a “rocky and difficult” opponent, in the words of Xavi.
Without Frenkie De Jong or Pedri and with the same players that he had at his disposal last Tuesday in Son Moix, the Blaugrana coach is confident of returning to the path of victory to try to regain the first position in the table as soon as possible, even if it is provisional form.
Winning is vital for a Barça that right now is, after that 2-2 against the ‘vermillions’, in third position, one point behind Real Madrid and two behind the surprising leader Girona FC. And, curiously, ‘gironins’ and whites meet this Saturday in Montilivi in a direct duel for the lead. So a victory for Barça would put pressure on its two current rivals.
Xavi defends that his team did not play badly in Mallorca; and surely, he didn’t do it. Beyond the two goals, he had a stick in Joâo Félix’s boots, Raphinha missed a resounding one-on-one and had more scoring options than a Mallorca team that was very fine and successful, well established, and took advantage of the Catalan team’s resounding failures. .
Marc-André Ter Stegen’s bad pass, first, and an inaccuracy when going out and cutting off the play between the German and Ronald Araujo, later, gave the Mallorcans wings. Hence, Xavi asks to recover and maintain the very high defensive level of last season, which was the architect of the domestic success and the league title.
To leave Son Moix forgotten, Barça appeals to the incipient spirit of Montjuïc, which made them overcome the 0-2 loss against RC Celta de Vigo in just 10 minutes to win 3-2 in the last duel played on the magical mountain Barcelona. But without Pedri and without De Jong, players like Gündogan and Gavi must take a step forward.
Barça got stuck offensively in Son Moix for a good part of the game. At home, even if it is a rental, and against a Sevilla that is growing but is not at its highest level, they must use faith and play, that DNA that Xavi mentions so much, to try to win and, if possible, do it successfully. a way that will raise the spirits again in Can Barça.
Jules Koundé, former Sevilla FC player, will presumably return to the starting eleven after being a substitute in Mallorca. The same would happen with Robert Lewandowski or Lamine Yamal, although Raphinha’s good game, including a goal and despite the aforementioned failure in one-on-one, could make the Brazilian continue jumping onto the field at the start.
Few rotations in a Barça that is facing a demanding match. And Sevilla FC comes to this event after beating UD Almería (5-1) and, furthermore, they have not lost in all competitions since 1-2 at home against Girona, at the end of August.
José Luis Mendilibar has past quarrels in Barcelona. “Sevilla and I have not won there for a long time. As a coach in none of the teams I have been in, I have achieved nothing there. Tomorrow there are two of us who can emerge victorious from there,” he noted in the preview. Looking back, Sevilla has not won in the League in Barcelona since 2003, two decades ago.
Now, the Sevillistas would recover Dmitrovic in their goal, and would draw on the experience of Sergio Ramos and Jesús Navas – both flattered by Xavi in the previous one – as well as the former Blaugrana Ivan Rakitic to try not to derail, now that their train is finally starts to pick up speed.
With a ‘Mendi’ who has not been able to fish in Barcelona and a Sevilla team that has one of the worst away records against Barça, Sevilla can only get better. Scoring would be a success. Win, turn the tables and leave Barça in a complicated situation. So Barça appeals to the spirit of Montjuïc and Sevilla so that, with heart and pride, the bad streak can end.
DATASHEET.
–POSIBLE ALIGNMENTS.
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen; Cancelo, Kound, Christensen, Balde; Romeu, Gundogan, Gavi; Raphinha, Lewandowski and João Felix.
SEVILLE FC: Dmitrovic; Navas, Bade, Ramos, Peter; Sow, Ferdinand; Lamela, Rakitic, Lukebakio; and En-Nesyri.
–REFEREE: Ortiz Arias (C. Madrid).
— STADIUM: Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium.
–TIME: 21.00/Movistar LaLiga TV.