Overview
Barcelona entered this match after a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 at St James' Park.
The performance of the Catalan team is not really convincing, but they are still holding an advantage before the second leg at home when the goal of winning a ticket to the quarter-finals is completely within reach.
Barcelona had to stop in the Copa del Rey semi-finals, but in La Liga they are still controlling the championship race. Coach Hansi Flick's team is currently leading the standings with a 4-point gap from Real Madrid.
After the stumble against Girona in mid-February, Barcelona quickly regained their form with 3 consecutive victories against Levante, Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao.
In the first leg match at the beginning of the season, Barcelona disappointed when losing 1-4 to Sevilla at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. However, overall, the Catalan team still has an advantage when winning seven of the last eight encounters between the two teams, including a 5-1 victory in the second leg of the 2024-2025 season.
Meanwhile, Sevilla is almost unlucky every time they visit Barcelona. They have never defeated this opponent away from home since January 2010 at the Copa del Rey, and the last time they beat Barcelona at Camp Nou in La Liga was in December 2002.
However, coach Matias Almeyda's team is in quite stable form. After only finishing 17th last season, Sevilla has only lost one of their last 8 matches in La Liga.
Sevilla entered this match after 2 consecutive draws against Real Betis and Rayo Vallecano. Their most recent defeat took place in early February when they were guests against Mallorca.
After 27 rounds in La Liga this season, Sevilla has 8 wins, 7 draws and 12 defeats, winning 31 points and temporarily ranked 14th in the standings, 6 points ahead of the relegation group.
Although not a bright candidate, the Andalusia team still showed relatively good form away from home when they won 15 points after 13 matches. That helped them enter the away match at Camp Nou with certain confidence.
Personnel situation
Barcelona receives positive signals about the force when both Lamine Yamal and Eric Garcia are ready to play in the upcoming match in La Liga.
Yamal missed Thursday's training session because he felt unwell, but the Spanish international returned to training on Friday. Meanwhile, Eric Garcia - who was absent from the match against Newcastle - also participated in training with the whole team.
However, Barcelona is still missing some key players. Andreas Christensen (knee), Jules Kounde (hamstring), Alejandro Balde (hamstring) and Frenkie de Jong (hamstring) are all unable to return. However, Gavi managed to be on the bench in the match against Newcastle.
Flick is likely to make some adjustments compared to the starting lineup in the Champions League. Marc Casado may be brought on to refresh the midfield, while Ferran Torres is considered to start in the attack.
On Sevilla's side, Peque Fernandez (ankle) and Marcao (knee) are definitely absent. Meanwhile, Ruben Vargas and Neal Maupay both have hamstring problems and will have to check their fitness before the match.
Vargas has only played once since the end of November due to injury, but the striker has returned to training and may be present in the away match at Camp Nou.
Expected lineup:
J. Garcia, Araujo, Cubarsi, E. Garcia, Martin, Casado, Pedri, Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha, F. Torres.
Vlachodimos, Azpilicueta, Nianzou, Gudelj, Salas, Juanlu, Agoume, Sow, Carmona, Adams, Romero.
The match between Barcelona and Sevilla takes place at 10:15 PM on March 15th (Vietnam time).
