Barcelona will seek revenge over Real Betis on Sunday night as the teams meet for the first time since the Seville-based side gained a remarkable 4-3 victory at the Camp Nou in November.
After progressing to the Champions League quarter-finals with Wednesday’s victory over Lyon, Barca will now attempt to head into the international break on a high – but they face a tough task in what should be a very watchable encounter against a Betis team whose qualities are well-known.
We take a look at the game with three key pre-match talking points.
Rotation for Valverde?
A big topic in the next few weeks will be the extent to which Barca boss Ernesto Valverde should rotate his squad to keep his key players fresh for the Champions League quarter-final showdown with Manchester United.
On the one hand, Valverde will be under pressure to ensure that key men such as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Arthur and Jordi Alba are not worn out by the time they face the Red Devils, and his team’s seven-point lead over Atlético Madrid at the top of La Liga gives him some margin for error even if those stars cannot be adequately replaced.
However, Valverde is also highly conscious that defeat against a dangerous team like Betis, if coupled with a victory for Atlético over Athletic Bilbao, could leave Barca dangerously exposed to a serious challenge from Diego Simeone’s men ahead of their potential title decider at the Camp Nou on Saturday 6 April, just before the first leg against United.
Messi and Suarez are in dire need of rest
An added complication this weekend is that the game comes just before an international break which will see his South American stars head away for physically demanding trips – although it helps that Argentina and Brazil will play their upcoming friendlies in Europe rather than across the Atlantic. Will Valverde wrap up his key men in cotton wool or ask them to deliver the goods once more? Recent evidence suggests the latter.
Setien on thin ice?
Betis boss Quique Setien earned widespread commendation after his team gained their highly impressive victory at the Camp Nou earlier this season, even prompting serious speculation that he was being eyed up as a potential eventual successor to Valverde.
However, there have been plenty of bumps in the road since then for the passing purist, whose team suffered a dual blow in recent weeks with rapid eliminations from two cup competitions as they lost to Rennes in the Europa League and Valencia in the Copa del Rey.
Those exits, and Setien’s tactical inflexibility, caused a great deal of frustration among Betis fans, many of whom jeered their boss loudly and chanted for him to be fired during the team’s last home outing, a 2-1 loss against Getafe.
Quique Setien
Setien survived that show of dissent and his team responded well by earning a deserved 1-0 win at struggling Celta Vigo last weekend, but the fate of managers is often determined by performances in front of their own fans and another heavy home defeat this weekend could be tough for Setien to survive. One thing, though, is for sure: he will not sacrifice his principles, so this should be an extremely watchable encounter between two teams intent on weaving passing patterns.
Old boys to trouble Barca?
The visitors will be confronted by two of their own, with Betis marshalled at the back by former Barca defender Marc Bartra while dangerous forward Cristian Tello – who also progressed through the Catalan club’s youth system – will be hoping for a starting slot on the wing.
Bartra has enjoyed an excellent season with Betis, suggesting that he could yet fulfil the potential he showed during his younger days at the Camp Nou. The cultured centre back made his senior debut with Barca at the age of 19 and ended up playing more than 100 games for the club, but he never established himself as a regular starter and ended up joining Borussia Dortmund in 2016, before returning to Spain with Betis two years later.
On the wing, Tello was another highly regarded youth prospect who enjoyed some promising highlights during his early days at the Camp Nou, scoring 20 goals in 86 games, but he struggled to find consistency and eventually being allowed to leave.
The talent of both players cannot be doubted and they would love to serve their former club a reminder of their talents on Sunday night, and the same applies to another Betis player who is attempting to rebuild his career in a similar fashion: striker Jese Rodriguez, who looked a star in the making when he broke into Real Madrid’s senior team a few years ago but then badly lost his way after a series of injuries.
🔥😌👌
— Real Betis Balompié (@RealBetis_en) March 11, 2019
We already did it four months ago. We want to do it again.#RealBetisBarça pic.twitter.com/Tt4irHIS0n
