Sevilla and Barcelona meet today, Friday, June 19, starting at 10:00 p.m. in the match corresponding to day 30 of LaLiga Santander. The meeting will be held at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán behind closed doors.
The duel seems fundamental for the fight for the upper zone of the classification. The blaugranas will look for a victory that allows them to maintain their security mattress over Real Madrid in the fight for the leadership.
Sevilla, on the other hand, do not want to give up ground in their struggle to take third place that gives direct access to the Champions League next year.
Barcelona will be hoping to maintain their lead at the top of La Liga when they travel to Sevilla on Friday evening.
Quique Setien’s side hold a two-point advantage over Clasico rivals Real Madrid with eight games left, meaning every point is crucial.
Third-placed Sevilla will provide a tough test for the champions, though, as they push to finish inside the Champions League places for the first time since 2017.
Sevilla vs Barcelona Team News
Jordi Alba is available after being suspended for Barca’s win over Leganes. Setien has rotated heavily since the return of La Liga and it could be a similar team to the one that beat Real Mallorca, which featured the likes of Martin Braithwaite and Arturo Vidal. Frenkie de Jong, meanwhile, is out through injury.
Julen Lopetegui has a full complement of players to choose from. Suso and Oliver Torres will both be pushing to start after coming off the bench against Levante, whilst Luuk de Jong scored in that match and therefore should retain his place up front.
Sevilla vs Barcelona Preview
Barcelona are pushing for a fifth title in six years and so will not want to let any points get away from them, but they may have to bide their time against Lopetegui’s men.
Sevilla have conceded just 11 goals in the first half this season – only four of which have come at home - and both of their games since the restart have been 0-0 at the break.
Whilst Barca have scored an incredible 35 goals before half-time this season, just eight of those have come in away games and so we could see a fairly slow start in the south-west of Spain.
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