Barcelona will be looking to take out its frustrations on Real Betis after a disappointing 1-1 draw with Espanyol in a return to La Liga play last weekend. The two teams split two meetings last season in Copa del Rey play with the Blaugrana advancing on aggregate.
Barca currently sits five points behind rival Real Madrid as the season's midway point approaches. It's obviously not an ideal scenario for the defending champions, but it's hardly an insurmountable deficit. One hot streak will put Barcelona right back where they need to be for the stretch run.
Despite the 10th-place standing, it's actually been a pretty successful season for Real Betis.
The Beticos started the season with four straight wins in their return to Spain's top division. Although they slumped for awhile, they have bounced back recently with three straight wins in league play.
Player to Watch for Barcelona: Cesc Fabregas
Fabregas scored Barca's only goal against Espanyol last weekend. There's a lot of pressure on the former Arsenal star when teams go out of their way to slow down Lionel Messi like the Periquitos did, holding him to just one shot.
It's a dangerous tactic because of all the weapons Barcelona possesses, but more teams are starting to do it in an attempt to stop the three-time player of the year from dominating the game.
If Betis follows suit, Fabregas will need to lead the offensive attack once again.
Player to Watch for Real Betis: Ruben Castro
Castro had a monster campaign in the Segunda Division last season, scoring 25 goals to help Betis get promoted to La Liga.
He's not been able to maintain the same goal-scoring pace for obvious reasons, but he still has five tallies in 13 games.
The veteran Spaniard has been the team's most consistent offensive threat and has developed some nice chemistry with fellow striker Roque Santa Cruz.
Both players will need to be in top form if they want to keep pace with Barcelona on Sunday.
Key Matchup: Lionel Messi vs. Mario
Fresh off picking up his third consecutive Ballon d'Or Award, Messi will look to power the Blaugrana back to the top of the table.
He trails Cristiano Ronaldo by four goals, which isn't a major surprise, considering Messi's willingness to play the distributor role more often this season.
The man who will be asked to slow him down is Mario. The centre-back has led a resurgence of the Real Betis back line, but they were exposed in an earlier meeting with Real Madrid.
It will be interesting to see how they react to their second big test of the season.
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