Barça face a Betis that Xavi flatters
The duel will be marked by the fight for the ball and the ‘morbidity’ of Abde and the rest of the ex-blaugranas
BARCELONA, 15 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
FC Barcelona hosts Real Betis this Saturday at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium (9:00 p.m.) on the fifth day of LaLiga EA Sports, in a complicated duel for the ‘culers’ against unos beticos that their coach, Xavi Hernández, admires and despite the casualties, he is in seventh position and ready to break with the magic of Montjuïc.
Manuel Pellegrini’s Real Betis likes Xavi Hernández, for their colorful play and good treatment of the ball. The Terrassa coach expressed this in the preview, but warned of the difficulty of beating the green and white in a match that comes after the this time not so feared ‘FIFA virus’ and in which both hope to score points.
Two points behind a Real Madrid that counts its four games as victories, Barça left behind the bad taste of the initial draw against Getafe (0-0) with victories against Cádiz (2-0), Villarreal (3-4 ) and Osasuna (1-2). And now, upon returning to the rented house, he must continue along that path so as not to lose momentum and continue defending the league title, even if there is a whole world ahead of him.
The Beticos, despite the losses, are also getting off to a good start as they won – like Barça – at La Cerámica (1-2), tied against Atlético de Madrid (0-0), fell in ‘ La Catedral’ 4-2 and they recovered at home against Rayo Vallecano (1-0). Without a doubt, scoring in Barcelona would give them a good boost.
On the Olímpic green there will only be one ball in play and that will be the great battle between two teams that need to tame the ball. Both Barça and Betis base their attacks through associative play and whoever loses this duel will suffer more to reach the goal of victory and 3 points.
Xavi, his teammates and the ‘culers’ will continue to miss Pedri, still injured in the anterior rectum and whose magic will not be added to that of Barcelona’s ‘Muntanya Màgica’. And Ronald Araújo is a serious doubt, who could be back next week barring a miraculous recovery.
The rest of the members of the Blaugrana squad will be in front of Betis, including – if the Egarense coach so decides – Ilkay Gündogan who returned injured from the international break. His fall in the friendly against France left him with a good blow to his back that remained just that, and nothing more.
If he could play, in that midfield alongside Frenkie De Jong and Oriol Romeu, Barça would have its starting midfield waiting for Pedri and with Gavi, already without a protective helmet due to the injury to his ear, presumably moved from again to the false left end. On the other side, a Lamine Yamal who continues to explode, at 16 years old, and is already the youngest international and scorer with Spain.
Up front, Real Betis will try to fight with what they have. If Xavi claimed to be comfortable with a short squad that draws on the subsidiary – from which stars like Lamal or the suspended Fermín López emerge -, Manuel Pellegrini complained that the same thing happens, or worse. He has 22 chips and his defense is in a box, with Pezzella, Bartra and the one on loan from Barça Chadi Riad as the only centre-backs.
For this clash, beyond the short squad, Pellegrini has the significant losses of Claudio Bravo, Youssouf Sabaly, William Carvalho, Nabil Fekir and Andrés Guardado. And with Borja Iglesias being more news for his broken love affair with the ‘Roja’ than for his good moment at Betis. Even so, Willian José, Luiz Henrique, Isco and company are ready, like the ‘Panda’, to assault Montjuïc.
It will be a duel in which beyond what happens on the field of play, without a doubt the most important thing, there will be a certain morbidity. Despite Claudio Bravo not being there, former Blaugranas Marc Bartra, Chadi Riad (still owned by the Catalan club), Juan Miranda, Héctor Bellerín, Sergi Altimira and Abde could play. Many former players willing to give their best, especially Abde who – if he starts – will try to make Xavi see that he could have a place in his Barça.
DATASHEET.
–POSIBLE ALIGNMENTS.
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen; Joao Cancelo, Koundé, Christensen, Balde; Oriol Romeu, Gündogan, De Jong; Lamine Yamal, Lewandowski and Gavi.
REAL BETIS: Rui Silva; Bellerín, Pezzella, Bartra, Miranda; Guido Rodríguez, Marc Roca; Isco; Luiz Henrique, Willian José and Abde.
–REFEREE: Sánchez Martínez (C. Murciano).
— STADIUM: Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium.
–TIME: 21.00/Movistar LALIGA TV.