Great game at the Benito Villamarín with all the focus on Isco Alarcón, who returned to a Betis squad after several months of absence.
Isco, magic, Benito Villamarín and Barcelona are words that promise an entertaining afternoon. Even more so if it is a LaLiga match, a competition in which the margin of error reduces with the passage of time for some while others, like Barça, manage some income before Christmas.
Barcelona comfortably leads LaLiga despite making some mistakes. The culés felt the absence of Lamine Yamal and gave up points that, thanks to Real Madrid’s mistakes, they have been recovering little by little. The Blaugranas rest in first place in the competition, four points behind the Merengues, who will face Girona this Saturday in another great game.
In the preview of the match, Hansi Flick ruled out the presence of Ronald Araújo for the match against the Andalusians. “He won’t be there tomorrow, we will go to Dortmund, but I don’t know if he will be there, I don’t think so. The objective is for it to be against Leganés, but we’ll see. At the moment he is doing well, but his return is not easy. There are 21 players,” he said.
Pellegrini recovers in Isco
While Barça will be without Araújo, Christensen or Ansu Fati due to injury, Real Betis has recovered Isco. “Well, if he’s in the squad, he’s fit to play. How many minutes? I think we have to be cautious, calm. It’s been almost a year, practically, eight months that he hasn’t played. So, depending on how things are, feel in the games, the minutes that he is able to play are increasing,” Pellegrini noted in the preview.
