Real Betis vs Barcelona

Estadio Benito Villamarin is the venue as La Liga top-four hopefuls Real Betis and runaway leaders Barcelona go head-to-head in a high-stakes contest.

Real Betis eked out a narrow 1-0 win at perennial relegation strugglers Getafe last weekend, courtesy of a controversial late penalty converted by Borja Iglesias. Consistency remains a problem for ‘Los Verdiblancos,’ though, as they’ve not won back-to-back league fixtures since mid-September. But despite their indifferent form, they start this round only three points adrift of fourth-placed Atletico Madrid, suggesting a first top-four finish in La Liga since 2004/05 is still on the cards. Manuel Pellegrini’s men have turned Benito Villamarin into a fortress this season, losing just one of their eight top-flight home outings thus far (W5, D2). That said, they come into this encounter winless in their last three home league matches (D2, L1), netting under 1.5 goals on each occasion.

On the other hand, Barcelona pulled off a 1-0 win at Girona over the weekend, making it three consecutive La Liga victories via an identical scoreline. Another narrow triumph would see the ‘Blaugrana’ win four successive top-flight games by a single-goal margin, though there’s no doubt manager Xavi Hernandez wouldn’t mind that scenario. The Catalan heavyweights enter this round five points clear of second-placed Real Madrid, mainly because of their impressive nine-game unbeaten league streak (W8, D1). Barcelona’s outrageous domestic form will likely go beyond this midweek, considering they’ve won their last five visits to Betis in La Liga. By extension, they’ve failed to get on the scoresheet only once across their 30 previous top-flight H2Hs in Andalusia.