PREVIEW | FC Barcelona v Betis
Top quality duel in the Estadi Olímpic on Saturday, kick off 9pm CEST, with Barça on a run of nine consecutive wins in La Liga and opponents Betis on their own winning streak of six straight victories. The league showdown at Montjuïc in week 30 of the competition promises to be a thriller.
Looking for win number 10
Barça are on the lookout for win number 10 in a row in the league. Since the draw at Getafe on 18 January, Hansi Flick's team have picked up three points in every game for the last two months or so.
Recent precedents bode well for the blaugranes. Betis have lost 4-0 and 5-0 on their last two visits to Barcelona in the league but they did take a win in the 2021/22 season, a 1-0 victory at Spotify Camp Nou their only success home or away against Barça in their last 14 meetings.
This season the sides have already met twice. In the league at the Benito Villamarín in December Barça were held to a 2-2 draw by Manuel Pellegrini's side. In January they met again, this time in the Copa del Rey at the Estadi Olímpic, with Barça romping to a 5-1 victory.
Betis looking to make history
Real Betis have won their last six games in La Liga, a run that has seen the club from Seville move up to sixth place in the table on 47 points. In Europe Pellegrini's team are in the quarter-finals of the Conference League and a win at Montjuïc on Saturday would set a new club record for consecutive victories in the league.
Christensen back, Iñigo out
Hansi Flick named a 22 man squad for the visit of Betis with Danish defender Andreas Christensen back in the fold after recovering from a calf injury. However, Barça will be without Iñigo Martinez with the Basque centre half ruled out with a glute injury.
Betis come to Barcelona with one notable absentee in their squad. Midfielder Isco Alarcón is suspended so Pellegrini's team will have to do without one of their most important attacking players with Isco second top scorer in the league this season on six goals, one behind Lo Celso.
Hansi says
"I have the feeling the team believes in itself. Also those on the subs' bench. Everybody. We believe in ourselves and now we have to show that on the field. We are battling for everything," said Barça coach Hansi Flick in his pre-game press conference on Friday. A message of optimism ahead of the challenge that faces his side this weekend in La Liga.