Barcelona were pegged back by Real Madrid on Saturday, thanks to Carlo Ancelotti’s side winning 2-1 at Celta Vigo. The Catalans will aim to re-establish their three-point lead at the top of La Liga when they take on Sevilla at the Estadi Olimpic.
It’s the start of a big six days for Barcelona, as they face Bayern Munich (Wednesday) and Real Madrid (next Saturday) in their upcoming fixtures. Despite this, Hansi Flick does not appear to be confident of making significant changes to his side for the Sevilla fixture. According to Sport, only two will be made from the pre-international break victory over Alaves.
Jules Kounde would return to the line-up in place of Hector Fort, while Eric Garcia is expected to be the player that replaces the injured Ferran Torres, despite Ansu Fati being tipped with doing so. Lamine Yamal is set to retain his place, despite suffering discomfort whilst playing for Spain last weekend.
Sevilla defeated bitter rivals Real Betis two weeks ago, and they are expected to make only one alteration from that match – and it is an enforced one. Tanguy Nianzou was sent off at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, and he will be replaced by Marcao.
Barcelona will fancy their chances of continuing their spectacular start to the season, but Sevilla will not make it easy. Their victory in El Gran Derbi would have provided a lot of confidence, although it will be a very strong test to stop Hansi Flick’s all-conquering side.