FC Barcelona hope to wipe away sad memories against Betis after title-shattering draw last season.


Match Preview: Wednesday 04/11/2007 19:00 hours (GMT +1), La Liga, Match Day 11

FC BARCELONA ( 2nd/21pts ) - REAL BETIS ( 17th/8pts )
Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona

Capacity : 98,772
Referee:


Probable Line-up:


FC Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdés, Jorquera, Oleguer, Zambrotta, Puyol, Márquez, Thuram, Abidal, Sylvinho, Xavi, Iniesta, Touré, Gudjohnsen, Messi, Henry, Ronaldinho, Dos Santos, Krkic.

Manager: Frank Rijkaard


Real Betis(4-4-2): Ricardo, Doblas, Ilic, Juanito, Lima, Isidoro, Xisco, Somoza, Arzu, Juande, Babic, Rivera, Mark González, Caffa, Pavone, Fernando, Edu, José Mari, Fernando Vega.
Manager: Hector Cuper


Match Preview:

FC Barcelona are eager to reclaim their La Liga title this season and will be playing tonight against Real Betis, a team whose 1-1 draw at camp Nou last season pierced Barca’s La Liga title hopes. A repeat of that encounter is awaited today, but it’s doubtful if there will be a repeat of the scoreline as Barca look like they are not as generous in Camp Nou as they were last season. The Blaugrana have maintained a 100% record at home this season, and will gladly add Betis to that record if only to punish the visitors for their spoiler position taken against the Catalan giants last season.


The Blaugrana have been greatly weakened by the absence of Deco in the midfield and the absence of Eto’o is still being felt in the attack although Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry have been doing quite well to fill that void. Henry himself returns to the squad along with Eric Abidal, and their inclusion will no doubt, strengthen the squad as they need to simply keep winning in order to keep their title hopes hopes alive.


Bojan Krkic and Giovani dos Santos will likely continue their impressive run, and Gudjohnsen who has been impressive coming on as a sub in the last two matches will also struggle to come into more reckoning with a goal against Betis in order to solidify his place in the team after he was left out at the start of the season. Ronaldinho is also back with a bang, and with goal keeper Victor Valdes in great form, there’s a lot of expectation from the Blaugrana against their much weaker opponents.


Real Betis on their own part are down at the lower end of the table with just 8 points from the last ten matches, but small teams have a way of acting big once they meet FC Barcelona. This is not surprising that Betis secured a draw at same venue last season, and have publicly announced they hope to do the same thing again this season. Coach Hector Cuper will be glad if this happens to the team which has been a shadow of itself since the departure of Joaquin and Oliveira in 2006.


Cuper will have to rely on current players like Edu, Gonzalez and Xisco to make things happen for the La Liga clubside, and will fervently pray his defence line do not crack up against the rampaging Barca strikers. Already, Betis defence line is without key defenders like Melli, Nano, Rivas and Damìa, who would have provided adequate cover in the absence of strikers like fast-paced David Odonkor, Jesus Capitan or Rafael Sobis, who all could have kept the Blaugrana busy and lessened the likelihood and frequency of attacks from the feared Catalans.


My Prediction:
Without pretending, I expect FC Barcelona to overpower Real Betis and secure the three points at stake.

I forsee:


FC Barcelona – Real Betis 3-0