Saturday’s draw between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid has opened the door for Barcelona, who will close the gap with victory at Sevilla. The Catalans are currently five points away from the top of the La Liga table, but a win narrows that deficit to two.
Barcelona are aiming to continue their very strong start to 2025, but with just a three-day turnaround from the Copa del Rey quarter-final victory at Valencia, Hansi Flick is expected to make changes. According to Sport, four players that missed out on a starting role at the Mestalla are expected to be recalled at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.
In defence, the regulars of Jules Kounde, Pau Cubarsi and Alejandro Balde are expected to be joined by Ronald Araujo, which would mean Eric Garcia drops to the bench despite an impressive display against Valencia. In midfield, two prospective changes would see Marc Casado and Gavi – who missed Thursday’s match as a precaution after last weekend’s head injury – back on the line-up, with Frenkie de Jong and Fermin Lopez making way.
The final alteration would be in attack, where Robert Lewandowski is expected to replace Ferran Torres, who scored a hat-trick against his former club in midweek.
Sevilla are unbeaten in their last four matches, and they will hope to continue that run on Sunday. Head coach Francisco Javier Garcia Pimienta is to be forced into two changes for the game against Barcelona, with Jose Angel Carmona (suspended) and Albert Sambi Lokonga (injured) missing out – their replacements are expected to be Juanlu Sanchez and Lucien Agoume. One more planned alteration would see Kike Salas in for Adria Pedrosa at left-back.
Barcelona have an excellent record against Sevilla in recent years, with their last La Liga defeat coming all the way back in 2015. They have won their last seven matches against Los Nervionenses, and the goal will be to extend that run to eight by close of play on Sunday night.
