Forget English football and some of their long ball tactics, for true fans of technical, attacking football, Spanish football mostly likely gives you what you want and this Sevilla vs Barcelona clash is almost as good as it gets. The level of passing and technical skill is what makes La liga special.
Four points and four places are all that separate Sevilla from Barcelona at the top of La Liga table now which means that if Sevilla can beat Barca this Saturday, they will potentially move just one point off first place,depending on other results.
In the corresponding fixture last season, Xavi and Messi did the job for Barcelona and Sevilla's new goalkeeper Diego Lopez from Villarreal knows the task ahead as they prepare to welcome (in my humble opinion) the World's best player in Messi and his teammates when he said on Friday ........"With Messi, there is no point in thinking what he might attempt because he will just end up doing something totally different".
When looking at recent results from both teams then it is fair to say we might be in for an enthralling match. Barcelona are coming off two late victories in Spain and Europe where they needed Messi's double and a late Xavi's strike to beat Sparta Moscow and Granada respectively while Sevilla, themselves are also flying after their last two victories against La liga champions (2weeks earlier) and then Deportivo last weekend.
However, Barcelona's defense has been very weak especially without their first choice defenders with Midfielders Mascerano and summer signing Alex Song set to deputise. They seem to look weaker against counter attacking teams and speedy wingers as well as crosses and set pieces with their forever wack goalkeeper, the great Victor Wack Valdes very very poor at crosses and set pieces. There are few teams in the league more capable of exploiting all of those weaknesses than Sevilla and they are buoyed with the fact that they along with Malaga boost the joint best defensive record in the league having only conceded two goals.
With all these said, If Sevilla could be bold enough then we are likely to see some exciting football, but it could be a detriment to the team in the end and If they are not careful on the ball, an early goal from Barca could be the catalyst to their downfall.
Though, an upset is definitely possible and not unlikely in this one, I expect a close win for Barcelona with goals...... May the best team win....
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