Barcelona vs Real Bétis - Will The Blaugranas Sink Bétis Even Further?

Next Saturday, Barcelona will entertain a desperate Real Bétis side at Camp Nou for round 32 of Liga BBVA. The home side did not have a very impressive match last weekend on their visit to Cornèlla El-Prat, where the Catalan derby took place. Barcelona won thanks to a controversial penalty and the team’s performance was nothing to be proud of. Last Tuesday, Barcelona went head-to-head with Atlético Madrid for the UEFA Champions League and both teams offered the supporters an excellent football match. The Catalan side didn’t manage to win the match but put up a quality performance that certainly pleased the team’s fans.

For next Saturday’s match, Gerardo Martino will certainly operate some changes into his team in order to give some players a well deserved rest after last Tuesday’s demanding clash.

The Argentinean head coach will not be able to count on the Spanish centre back Piqué that abandoned the match against Atlético Madrid due to a pelvic injury (which will surely keep him sidelined for about a month) and on the Spanish international goalie Victor Valdés that will miss the rest of the season due to a severe knee injury.

As for Real Bétis, next Saturday’s match is probably not the most appropriate one to aim for the three points, regardless of the delicate situation of the Andalusia side at the bottom of the table. Real Bétis seriously compromised their future at La Liga when they were defeated by Málaga at home last Monday. The Andalusia team lost two of their last four matches and have been severely affected by an injury streak that left eight players out of the last match and quite probably out of next Saturday’s one against Barcelona. Nacho, Chuli, Perquis, Caro, Amaya, Nosa, Dídac, and Salva Sevilla will certainly miss the team’s next match due to injury.

When both teams measured forces back in November, Barcelona hammered Real Bétis and Benito Villamarín 4-1 with two goals from Fàbregas, one from Neymar and another from Pedro. Judging by both teams’ recent performances, it is very likely that history might repeat itself next  weekend as the visitors risk to be completely trashed once again by the Catalan side.

Barcelona

W-24 L-4 D-3

Recent Form - LWWWW

Real Bétis

W-5 L-19 D-7

Recent Form - WDLWL

Possible Line-ups

Barcelona (4-3-3) - Pinto - Montoya - Bartra - Mascherano - Adriano - Busquets - Song - Iniesta - Pedro - Sánchez - Messi.

Real Bétis (4-4-2) - Adán - Molina - Paulão -Jordi - Chica - Reyes - N’Diaye - Cedric - J. Carlos - R. Castro - Leo Baptistao

Prediction: Barcelona 3 Real Bétis 0