Barcelona travel to Seville this evening to face Real Betis in a crucial La Liga clash. The blaugrana are ten points off league leaders Atletico Madrid, three points behind Real Madrid and two points behind Sevilla.
Despite this disparity, coach Ronald Koeman has seen an upturn in their fortunes recently. They’ve put together a strong run of league form, winning five on the bounce, and rallied to overcome Granada in a thrilling duel in the Copa del Rey midweek.
Betis are in a similar spot in many ways, overcoming a poor start to the season to chain a good run of results in La Liga and make it to the quarter-final of the Copa. Their exit on penalties to Athletic Bilbao this week will hurt, but for coach Manuel Pellegrini their sights have shifted firmly to securing European qualification.
Nabil Fekir, one of Betis’ key players, will be joined in the Andalusians’ squad by his brother, Yassin. He joined Betis along with Nabil in summer 2019 but spent last season out on loan according to a report in Diario Sport.
This year, he’s played 12 games with Betis B. A versatile player accustomed to playing on the left, he’s been training with the first team in recent weeks and while it’s unlikely he’ll debut, his presence will surely lift Fekir, who’s building a lovely on-field rapport with Sergio Canales and the revitalised Borja Iglesias.
