Real Betis (11th, 20pts) vs FC Barcelona (1st, 37pts)
Competition/Round: 2024-25 La Liga, Matchday 16
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Marc-André ter Stegen, Ronald Araujo, Ansu Fati, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal (out)
Real Betis Outs & Doubts: William Carvalho, Héctor Bellerín, Johnny Cardoso, Pablo Fornals, Marc Roca (out)
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 7, 2024, 4.15pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 3.15pm GMT (UK), 10.15am ET, 7.15am PT (USA), 8.45pm IST (India)
Venue: Estadio Benito Villamarín, Seville, Spain
Referee: Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz
VAR: Valentín Pizarro Gómez
How to watch on TV: ESPN Deportes (USA), SuperSport (Nigeria), Movistar (Spain), TSN 4 (Canada), others
How to watch online: ESPN+ (USA), LaLigaTV (UK), GXR World (India), Movistar+ (Spain), others
Following a crucial and dominant win over Mallorca on the road in midweek, Barcelona return to La Liga action for another massive away match as the leaders face Real Betis at the Benito Villamarín on Saturday afternoon.
Barça come into this one boosted by their victory and Real Madrid’s loss to Athletic Bilbao, which restored Barça’s advantage at the top of the table despite Madrid’s game in hand and gave the Blaugrana a much-needed uplift in confidence going into a crucial stretch of games to end 2024.
Hansi Flick’s side will also face Borussia Dortmund and Atlético Madrid on the road this month, and this weekend’s clash against Betis is a perfect way to prepare for a hostile atmosphere and a really good, really well-coached team.
Even though this isn’t exactly the same scary Betis side of recent years, mostly due to injuries to key players that have hurt their continuity and have forced manager Manuel Pellegrini to rely too much on young players who have been a bit inconsistent throughout the season, the Verdiblancos still deserve a ton of respect and remain really hard to beat at home.
Barça fans know that trips to Betis almost always guarantee a highly entertaining, high-scoring game that could go either way. And considering Flick’s chaotic style with an offside trap that will be severely tested by the pace of a couple of former Barça players in Ez Abde and Vitor Roque, there’s a really good chance the Catalans will face a ton of dangerous moments and Iñaki Peña will need to have a great afternoon as a shot-stopper and sweeper keeper.
But the Betis backline will also be facing a huge test as the Barça machine returned to its devastating best in the second half against Mallorca and will have Robert Lewandowski back in the lineup, reuniting the lethal forward trio alongside Raphinha and Lamine Yamal and presenting a massive threat to a Betis defense that has been vulnerable all season.
There’s no way this isn’t a whole lot fun, with a whole lot of goals. The only question will be how efficient Barça can be up front and how well their high line works to limit Betis’ chances.
Get ready for chaos.
Let’s dance.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Peña; Kounde, Cubarsí, Iñigo, Balde; Casadó, Gavi; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Lewandowski
Real Betis (4-2-3-1): Silva; Sabaly, Llorente, Bartra, Perraud; Altimira, Guirao; Ruibal, Lo Celso, Ez Abde; Roque
PREDICTION
Betis and Barça don’t know how to play boring games, and I believe Barça will win a very fun shootout: 4-2 to the good guys.