After dropping points in four straight league matches to give La Liga a close title race again, Barcelona have utterly annihilated their last two opponents. Sporting Gijon and Deportivo la Coruna were blasted to the tune of a combined 14-0 scoreline, and now Real Betis stand in Barcelona’s path. That’s an unenviable place to be in right now, and it’s likely that they’re just hoping to survive.
Barcelona vs. Real Betis 2016 live stream: Time, TV schedule and how to watch La Liga online
Are Betis going to be Barcelona’s next victim on this path of destruction they’ve been on?
David Ramos/Getty Images
Barcelona know that they have to keep winning matches, still even with Atlético Madrid on points and with just a one point edge on Real Madrid. There’s no room for error for Barca right now, and if they’re going to win the title as they expect and desire to, they have to win all of their matches. That starts with Betis, and it’s not a match that the Béticos or their fans will be looking forward to.
Key player -- Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
Suarez is in absolutely scorching hot form right now, with a stunning eight goals scored in his last two matches. Betis fans will also remember the remarkable brace he scored when they last faced off, and he will be eager to better that in this match. The simple fact is that Betis don’t have a player who can adequately contain Suarez, and that is something that will almost certainly doom them.
Key matchup -- Alfred N’Diaye (Real Betis) vs. Ivan Raktic (Barcelona)
The only chance that Betis have in this match is to slow Barcelona down and try to disrupt their possession as much as possible. Enter N’Diaye, who will be gluing himself to Rakitic’s hip as he tries to knock Barcelona’s main hub of possession off-kilter -- succeed, and Betis might be able to get something out of this match. That’s a huge task, though, and as good as N’Diaye has been at times this season, he might not be up to the challenge.
Real Betis injuries and suspensions
Out: Juan Vargas, Cristiano Piccini, Didier Digard
Barcelona injuries and suspensions
Out: Thomas Vermaelen, Sandro Ramirez, Sergi Samper In doubt: Jeremy Mathieu
Match Date/Time: Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. local
Venue: Estadio Benito Villamarín, Sevilla, Spain
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. - English), beIN SPORTS en Español (U.S. - Spanish), Canal+ Partidazo (Spain), Sky Sports 2/HD (U.K.)
Online: beIN Sports Connect, fuboTV (U.S.), Sky Go (U.K.)
See More:
