Matchday 9 - Featured Preview: Barcelona vs Sevilla

The crunch fixtures are coming thick and fast now and Saturday throws up another whopper as Sevilla travel to Catalonia to play Barcelona at the Camp Nou. With Real Madrid trail blazing at the moment, Pep Guardiola's team need to gather some momentum just to keep up with them. This match is a clash between two European heavyweights but it holds special importance for a couple of players; Dani Alves, Seydou Keita and Adriano count among the Sevilla alumni in blaugrana colours, while loanee Martin Caceres will be hoping to impress his mother club with a solid defensive performance for the Andalusians.

BARCELONA

Player to Watch: Lionel Messi

A Barcelona team captained by Bojan Krkic and including a whole host of young players from Barcelona B beat Ceuta 0-2 in the 4th round of the Copa del Rey on Tuesday night to practically guarantee Barca's passage into the last sixteen. That win takes the Catalan clubs form to DWWWW in their last five matches heading into Saturday's crunch encounter with Gregorio Manzano's Sevilla at the Camp Nou. Barcelona are 3rd in the league table, a point behind rivals Real Madrid who head the classification. Pep Guardiola's men thrashed Sevilla 4-0 in Barcelona in the return leg of the Super Cup in August and by the same scoreline in the league during the 2009-10 season. Messi scored a hat-trick this year and a brace last year and, given that he has also struck twice in his last two appearances, he will be the obvious danger man whom Sevilla will fear. Jeffren picked up a clavicle injury on Tuesday and he has been ruled out for a month so he will not be in the squad on Saturday. Dani Alves, Sergio Busquets, Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta, David Villa and Lionel Messi are all back having been rested in the cup. Doubts about Xavi Hernandez and Gabi Milito, who both missed the last couple of games with physical problems, appear to have cleared up as they resumed full training on Thursday. The return of Xavi is essential to Barca's title push and he is likely to be brought back in for this vital match to pull the strings at the heart of the Barcelona midfield; they are simply not the same without him. He should join Busquets and Iniesta in the midfield three unless Iniesta plays further forward instead of Pedro in the front line next to Messi and Villa. If that is the case, either Seydou Keita or Javier Mascherano will be handed a midfield start. Maxwell scored his first goal for Barca this week and he will be hoping to hold on to his left back slot ahead of Eric Abidal next to Carles Puyol, Pique and Alves at the back. 

Possible starting XI: (4-3-3) Victor Valdes; Maxwell, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Dani Alves; Xavi Hernandez, Sergi Busquets, Andres Iniesta; Lionel Messi, David Villa, Pedro Rodriguez;

SEVILLA

Player to Watch: Martin Caceres

Sevilla are bound to be wary of Lionel Messi when they come to face Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Saturday night. The Argentine wizard scored a brace in Barca's 4-0 win in the corresponding fixture in 2009-10 and a hat-trick when these two clubs met in Les Corts in the Super Cup back in August. Five points separate 3rd placed Barcelona and 6th placed Sevilla at this juncture, but Gregorio Manzano's men arrive Catalonia in good spirits having beaten Atletico Madrid 4-3 in the league last weekend and thrashed Real Union 0-4 away from home in midweek to guarantee their progress through to the last 16 of the Copa del Rey, a competition which they won last season. Sevilla's form in the last five matches in all competitions is only tainted by that freak 2-0 defeat at Sporting de Gijon: WLWWW. There were some positive signs in training at the end of the week as Jesus Navas and Federico Fazio returned to the training ground but neither has been risked for the trip north. Tiberio Guarente also missed the trip because of muscle problems so those three join Ivica Dragutinovic and the newly crocked Andres Palop on the absent list. Javi Varas will, therefore, start in goal, and Mouhamadou Dabo could fill in at left back to cover for the suspended Fernando Navarro next to Abdoulay Konko and two from Julien Escude, Alexis Ruano and Martin Caceres. Antonio Luna is also in the squad and is in contention at left back as it is his natural position as opposed to Dabo who is more comfortable on the right. Fredi Kanoute, Luis Fabiano, Konko and Diego Perotti are all novelties on the squad list having been rested in the cup. Negredo scored twice on Wednesday so he may keep his place at either Fabiano or Kanoute's expense. Navas' absence from midfield means that Alejandro Alfaro or Diego Capel will deputise on the right, with Perotti on the left and probably Didier Zokora and Luca Cigarini in central midfield. That is not definite, though, as Romaric and Renato are also present and have seen their playing time augmented since the departure of Antonio Alvarez.

Possible starting XI: (4-4-2) Javi Varas; Abdoulay Konko, Martin Caceres, Alexis Ruano, Mouhamadou Dabo; Diego Perotti, Didier Zokora, Luca Cigarini, Alejandro Alfaro; Luis Fabiano, Alvaro Negredo;