Real Betis v Barcelona: Confirmed line-ups as Bardghji starts with De Jong and Raphinha on the bench
Barcelona take on Real Betis this afternoon. Get all the team news here...
Two of the in-form teams in La Liga clash this evening with Barcelona making the trip to Seville to face Real Betis.
The hosts have won six and drawn two of their last eight games in all competitions and started the weekend in fifth place in La Liga.
Manuel Pellegrini will hope to cap a good week, in which he signed a new contract to keep him at the club until 2027, with Betis’ first win over Barca since 2021.
“It will be a very difficult match; Barcelona are in good form. But so are we, we’re playing at home, and the three points would be important,” Pellegrini said.
“We have to play a very complete game. Barcelona attack constantly, so we can’t make defensive mistakes because they have a lot of technical quality. With good offensive transitions, we can hurt them.”
Barca have won their last five in the league and that run, coupled with Real Madrid dropping points, has seen the Catalans slide into top spot.
Table of Contents
REAL BETIS TEAM NEWS
Real Betis: Valles; Ruibal, Bartra, Natan, Gómez; Altimira, Roca; Antony, Fornals, Abde; Cucho
BARCELONA TEAM NEWS
Frenkie de Jong has a heavy cold and will start on the bench alongside Raphinha. Roony Bardghji starts.
Barcelona: Joan Garcia; Kounde, Cubarsi, Garcia, Balde; Pedri, Martin, Yamal, Bardghji, Rashford; Torres
How to watch Betis v Barca: TV channel, online live streams
Betis v Barcelona kicks off at 17:30 GMT (12:30 ET / 09:30 PT) on Saturday and is being shown live in the UK on La Liga TV via Premier Sports, with streaming available on a vast range of devices via the Premier Sports app.
A Premier Sports subscription costs £120 a year, £11.99 per month on a 12-month contract or £16.99 per month with 30 days’ cancellation notice required.
Real Betis v Barca stats
- Last season’s 1-1 draw in this fixture ended a run of seven successive away league wins for Barca against Betis.
- Betis have not beaten Barca at home in the league since a 3-2 victory in March 2008.
- Pellegrini has faced Barca 38 times as a manager, winning only five times. (D6, L27).
- Both of Betis’ two league defeats this season have come at home (Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid), while both Barca’s two league losses so far have come away (Sevilla and Real Madrid).