Sunday, 27 March 2019 20:45 BARCELONA TIME ESTADIO BENITO VILLAMARÍN PREVIOUS MEETINGS SLL 11-11-2018 FT Barcelona 3 : 4 Real Betis SLL 21-01-2018 FT Real Betis 0 : 5 Barcelona SLL 20-08-2017 FT Barcelona 2 : 0 Real Betis SLL 29-01-2017 FT Real Betis 1 : 1 Barcelona SLL 20-08-2016 FT Barcelona 6 : 2 Real Betis SLL 30-04-2016 FT Real Betis 0 : 2 Barcelona VISCAELBARCA
15 game unbeaten streak in La Liga. Last defeat was against Betis. Revenge time and with the added benefit of extending the lead to a comfortable 10 points. That'd give the cushion of at least 3 defeats in the remaining 10 games.
Predictions: MAtS Semedo-Pique-Umtiti-Alba Rakitic-Busquets-Arthur Messi-Suarez-Coutinho Not much rotation but we don't play CL for 3 weeks, international break coming (where Pique and Lenglet get rest, though Messi is finally back to NT duty). Personally I'd love to see players like Malcom, Alena, and Vidal but I think they are more on as subs not starters.
Enters on 4 bookings: Piqué, Rakitic, Vidal Carrying 3 yellow cards: Busquets, Suarez, Umtiti Upcoming Liga fixtures: J29 (H) Espanyol J30 (A) Villarreal J31 (H) Atlético Madrid
One of the first clear 4-4-2s of the season, I think. MAtS Roberto-Pique-Lenglet-Alba Vidal-Rakitic-Busquets-Arthur Messi-Suarez So guessing Raki plays what I called the 1.5 pivote, more central and always giving Busi an outlet when we build up, but still getting forward a bit more as we move the ball up more on offense. Sure this may be hard for Coutinho's ego but he's a grown man who needs to manage that himself. This team was the last to beat us in La Liga and did so by scoring 4 goals, so I like this lineup. Also the game is between the two Liga teams who possess the ball the most, Barca #1 at about 64%, Betis just behind. We will of course be back here once more for the CdR final, sorry Betis won't be there, but hopefully we spank them tonight so they don't harbor any illusions of what might have been.
Probably don't want to miss the derbi with Espanyol, I could see a few players being eliminated for the Villarreal game though, as we need all hands on deck for Atleti!
Messi tonight ties Iniesta for official appearances for Barca, and with a win he tops Xavi for most wins in Barca matches where he appeared. He and Mbappe have quite a close golden shoe race going on, PSG also plays late, Messi on 26/52 points, Mbappe on 25/50, no one else above 21:
So Valverde has essentially given up on Coutinho. Looks like he is looking for another solution (assuming Dembele is not available) at this point. Hopefully Malcom gets some minutes.
Why does Roberto always hit high crosses into the box ?? Samedo gets to the line and plays cute little passes slightly angled for the players to run into ..
4-4-2 doesn't work if Messi will still often come back to pull the strings. His passing options become Suarez and Alba running down the wing.
I think Coutinho will play (and start) in the very next match, but against the team which scored 4 against us, it makes sense to play Vidal instead and a 442. First we keep them from scoring, our goals will come.