SportsPosted at: Oct 17 2026 12:03AM


Toughest test of season to date as Barcelona visits third place Betis in La Liga

Madrid, Oct 16 (UNI) FC Barcelona faces its toughest test of the season to date on Saturday when Hansi Flick's side travels to Seville to face Real Betis in La Liga.

Barcelona goes into the match with eight wins from eight games and a ninth successive La Liga win would ensure morale remains sky-high a week before entertaining Real Madrid in the first 'Clasico' of the season.
However, Flick's men can expect a difficult afternoon in the Estadio de la Cartuja against a rival that has also had a brilliant start to the campaign.
Betis is currently third in La Liga, level on points with Atletico Madrid and five off the top of the table. It has only lost once this campaign and will face Barcelona knowing that Real Madrid has already fallen in La Cartuja.
Speaking to the press on Friday, Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini said what had happened so far this season had no value for Saturday's match.
"I don't analyse matches for what has gone before, if we give a complete performance, I hope we can get three points at home and in front of our fans," he added, insisting that despite his side's excellent start in Europe, "La Liga is our priority."
He was also asked about how to stop Lamine Yamal performing for Barcelona and replied the best was to "stop the ball getting to him."
Frenkie de Jong and Raphinha are both available for Flick, but with a potentially decisive clash with Real Madrid next weekend, the Barcelona coach won't take many risks and will continue to make rotations to his starting 11, although Yamal is likely to continue, according to Xinhua.
"Lamine is a special player; we know we have to manage his minutes, but what matters is that he enjoys his time on the pitch-and right now, he is enjoying it. I'm not going to get in the way of that," commented the German.
Other games on Saturday in La Liga see Atletico Madrid visit Espanyol while Villarreal hosts Elche and Javier Aguirre makes his home debut as Valencia coach as his side entertains Athletic Bilbao, although the last two matches could be at risk due to the torrential rain forecast for the east-coast of Spain.
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