One Last Chance: Can Sevilla Stop Barca and Keep on the La Liga Chase?

Sevilla vs Barcelona

We’re still two months away from the end of the La Liga season, but Sevilla’s do-or-die moment is upon us.

Sevillistas Los Rojiblancos are close to slipping from the Champions League as there are at least six teams that can pounce on a Sevilla loss and make a move for the final Champions League spot. Pablo Manchin cannot afford another loss if he wants to also keep his chances of moving up the table alive.

However, their upcoming opponents in the league are none other than Barcelona. The league leaders will be coming to this game full of frustration and eager to vent it out on their league opponents.

Their coming bout on Saturday will be a tough one, and many of Sevilla’s supporters will be praying that they will leave the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan the happier set of fans.

Talking Points

Will Sevilla fall from grace?

It’s difficult to imagine how a club that was doing so well just two months ago experienced this harsh of a dip in form. However, Sevilla’s predicament is a testament to the reality that nothing is sure in the beautiful game of football.

The biggest of the La Liga 2019 results that put them in danger of leaving the top four is the one-sided rout they endured at the hands of Real Madrid. The prolific attacking play that got them to as high as second in the table last season was nowhere to be found as Sergio Ramos and the Madrid backline was just too tough to beat.

Their poor form does not carry over in Europe, though. They are still the club that has won the most Europa League trophies with five. They are still the team to beat in the competition, and they just proved their pedigree by winning convincingly against Lazio in what was a very physical affair.

They must begin winning their games if they want to turn things around for the better. Manchin needs every single one of his players if they are to beat the pre-game La Liga 2019 betting odds.

You can always expect Wissam Ben Yedder and Andre Silva to show up in games such as this, but the rest of the squad must also do their work. Ever Banega, Pablo Sarabia and Simon Kjaer must work together if they are to ensure the team’s successes.

Until that happens, we can only expect nothing but heartbreak for the Sevilla faithful.

Luis Suarez is ready to guide Barcelona in their next La Liga match — Barcelona forward Luis Suarez reacts during the Champions League round of 16 match with Lyon

Can Barca re-establish their dominance?

Sure, Barca are still the league leaders. However, it’s not like everything is peachy for the Catalan club.

They met a bit of frustration during the first weeks of February as they witnessed some battling performances from Valencia and Athletic Bilbao. For a good bit, some thought that Barca were beginning to show their cracks.

They managed to produce a win against a stubborn Valladolid side thanks to a Lionel Messi penalty. However, their frustrations carried over to Europe when Olympique Lyon put on a show and battled the Blaugrana all the way to a draw.

I’m sure that Messi and company will be looking to vent out their failures against Sevilla. Messi will be looking to finish strong. Luis Suarez will be looking to bang in goals again after his poor performance in Lyon. The entire backline will work hard to not even give Sevilla a peek of the goal.

I’m pretty sure that Ernesto Valverde will be doing everything in his power to ensure that their hosts will have a long 90 minutes.

History

These two clubs are extremely familiar with how their opponents operate as they have played each other at least 60 times since 1995. The better track record belongs to Barcelona with their 37 wins. Sevilla only managed to scrape 12 victories in their favour while the remaining 11 fixtures ended in draws.

When it comes to recent form, however, I’m not sure which side will be better coming in. Four of the six games the league leaders have played since January 31 have all ended in draws with two of them seeing the Blaugrana fire blanks.

Meanwhile, Sevilla have lost three of their six games, and one of those include the 6-1 humiliation they endured at Camp Nou during the second leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final match.

Betting Tip

	Sevilla vs Barcelona	Total Goals 2-3 @ 2.10
	February 23, 23:15 (GMT+8)

I believe Sevilla will scrap for points against the league leaders and aim for at least a draw. I believe they have the confidence that they can pull it off: their last game at the Pizjuan ended with the hosts winning 2-0 against a distracted Barca side. Even the odds at SBOBET agree with my opinion.

However, I don’t think Valverde will allow such a slip to happen again. Barca should be fully focused for this game and will pull out all the stops to at least get a 2-0 win away from Camp Nou. I believe Ben Yedder will be able to score at least one goal in consolation for the followers, though.