PREVIEW: FC Barcelona v Sevilla

The international break over, and the draw already made for the 2022 World Cup, life returns to normal at FC Barcelona with a high profile game at home to Sevilla on Sunday at 9.00pm CEST.

Following the immense turnaround in fortunes after the arrival of Xavi Hernández, the Catalans have been flying up the league table. They’re now third and closing in rapidly on Sevilla, who are chasing their highest league finish since 1957. Not only would victory would move Barça ahead of the Andalusians, but they also have a game in hand.

And it would also increase the pressure on Real Madrid, who still top the table but lost ground when Barça them 4-0 at home before the international break. 

What’s more, although Sevilla have been enjoying their most successful period ever in recent seasons, Barça have an exceptionally strong record against them. They have not lost at home to Sevilla for two decades, a run stretching all the way back to 2002, and they have avoided defeat at home or away in their last 12 encounters.

Here's our selection of Barça's ten finest goals against Sevilla in recent years:

Team news

Samuel Umtiti, Sergiño Dest, Sergi Roberto and Ansu Fati remain absent through injury at FC Barcelona, while Luuk de Jong tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday and is therefore unavailable to play against the side from which he is currently on loan. 

Sevilla are missing two defensive midfielders in Fernando (ankle) and Thomas Delaney (calf), while there are also doubts concerning second striker Papu Gómez.

Did you know?

Barça and Sevilla are the only two teams that have yet to lose in La Liga in 2022. In fact, Sevilla have the longest current unbeaten run in the competition of 15 games. However, they have only won two of their last nine matches. The other seven were all draws.

Youssef En-Nesyri might be one of the biggest dangers in the Sevilla squad, but he has now gone for nine league games without finding the net once.

Sevilla are coached by former FC Barcelona keeper Julen Lopetegui. But his poorest coaching record of all is against his old club, who he has not beaten in nine attempts.

Two of his playing squad are also former members of the Barça squad, Croatian Ivan Rakitić and Moroccan Munir El Haddadi, while their top scorer this season, Rafa Mir, spent two seasons at La Masia as a youngster.

Xavi says

The performance in the 4-0 win at Real Madrid is an example of what the team can do according to coach Xavi Hernández: