Xavi Hernández, Barça coach /
Day 17
Xavi’s men visit Villamarín with the aim of extending their lead
Betis and Barcelona will face each other again this Wednesday in a match with a thirst for revenge for the Verdiblancos. The team led by Manuel Pellegrini fell at the hands of Xavi Hernández in the Spanish Super Cup and will seek revenge. He will do it against a rival in which Ousmane Dembélé will not be, after the injury he suffered last weekend against Girona, but in which Robert Lewandowski will form, after having served the three games of sanction that he dragged from the past year.
«The Super Cup match is very useful for us. It cost us a lot and in their stadium it will also cost us. It will be key to have the ball, attack and press. He is a rival who can subdue us, “said Xavi this Tuesday in the preview of the match against Betis. The Egarense knows that he has one of the most complicated starts of the course ahead of him. The Benito Villamarín is a stadium in which the leader can strike a new blow on the table and in which he can endorse the good moment that his team is going through with eight consecutive victories, in the Copa del Rey semifinals and with the Super Cup of Spain already in the bag.
To do this, Xavi will have to overcome the loss of the footballer who was probably in the best shape of the entire team. Dembélé will not be at Villamarín after suffering a tear in the anterior rectus of his left leg and he will be the only absence in a team that will once again have Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, ready after their respective sanctions. The Pole enters an eleven in which Xavi could bet again for the 4-4-2 to win the battle in the midfield.
a dangerous opponent
It will not be an easy game for Barcelona. In front will be a team that already demonstrated in the Super Cup that it has arguments to give war to Xavi’s men and that it has before it a fantastic opportunity to climb to the Champions League positions. Pellegrini’s men are sixth, three points behind Atlético de Madrid and will generate the necessary atmosphere at Benito Villamarín to overthrow the leader, take revenge for the game in Riyadh and, incidentally, get closer to the goal of entering the top continental competition.
Pellegrini will be able to do it with the entire squad at his disposal. There are no absences in a team that arrives launched after the fundamental victory against Getafe and that will repeat the 4-5-1 that gave it such a good result in Madrid, with Guido Rodríguez and William Carvalho in the engine room, with three midfielders like Fekir, Canales and Luiz Henrique and with Borja Iglesias to score the goals. The entire arsenal at the service of the Engineer in a night that is expected to be filled with strong emotions at the Benito Villamarín.
-Lineups:
Betis: Rui Silva, Ruibal, Pezzella, Luiz Felipe, Abner, Guido, Fekir, William, Luiz Henrique, Canales and Borja Iglesias.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde, Busquets, De Jong, Gavi, Raphinha, Lewandowski and Pedri.
Referee: De Burgos Bengoetxea (Comité Vizcaíno).
Time: 9:00 p.m.
Stadium: Benito Villamarin.
TV: Movistar LaLiga.