Real Betis has the possibility of making a splash in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey. The option of being able to eliminate one of the all-powerful teams in Spanish football is there. When the Barcelona ball came out there were all kinds of reactions. Betic fans who thought (and still think) that it is possible to surprise and ‘kill’ the Barça team. And other green and white fans who did not see it possible and were beginning to assume that the cup-winning path of the current 24-25 season had already come to an end. Sneaking among the eight best teams in the competition will not be easy, but in a single match, no matter how much is played in Montjuïc, as long as Manuel Pellegrini’s team takes it very seriously, it is possible to fight and, why not? , get it. We were already talking yesterday about the double face that Betis has been offering every time it faces and plays a match between the big teams in the championship and those fighting to avoid relegation. And in the current campaign it is not only the case in LaLiga, but the team has also taken the league phase of the Conference League in a relaxed manner, in which it has advanced to the phase but will have to play in a month in the qualifying round. access to the round of 16 against KAA Gent. It is assumed and hoped that the good version should play today. Actually, the one that should always be shown. That of competing, that of fighting for every ball, that of being intense with and without the ball, that of having personality, as Pellegrini said yesterday in the press conference prior to the duel, and also that of hitting the ball in front of the opponent’s goal. That is being the main workhorse of the current course. And furthermore, for this match, and also for the next month of completion, the green and white top scorer, Lo Celso, with eight goals, seven in LaLiga, will be out due to a new muscle injury. So the affront has become the most difficult yet. The one from Rosario already began his individualized recovery work yesterday in the gym of the Luis del Sol sports city, apart from the rest of his teammates. Pellegrini’s team arrives after the league disappointment in Valladolid against whom on Saturday he was one of the bottom teams of LaLiga First Division. It was not a good game for the green and white. The year had started well in Huesca thanks to Isco’s great goal and the serious duel that the entire team played to advance in the Copa del Rey and reach the round being played today. But the match in Pucela has once again fueled criticism and debate about the lack of ambition in wanting to win the match against a rival who arrived a little better than dead after their cup elimination against Ourense. Furthermore, with social and institutional problems and that he had already changed the coach during the first round of the championship. But in these all-or-nothing matches, and on this occasion against Barcelona, is where the best opportunities appear to rise from the disappointment that Betis suffered on Saturday in Castilian-Leonese lands. Of course, opposite will be a Barça team that in The Spanish Super Cup played last week in Jeddah has been lifted, after beating Athletic (0-2) in the semi-final and beating Real Madrid in the final (2-5), from the poor streak of results in LaLiga that had made them drop from the lead and finish the first round six points behind Atlético de Madrid, winter champion, and five behind Ancelotti’s team. In the final match against the whites we saw a totally overwhelming Barça team, very vertical and doing a lot of damage defensively to Madrid, who proved to have tremendous problems stopping Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal or Raphinha, among others. After knowing the Lo Celso’s absence, which will most likely last until the next month of competition and with an eye on the clash against Celta on the weekend of February 8 and 9 or Looking ahead to the first leg of the tie for access to the round of 16 of the Conference League against Gent, Pellegrini has been able to count on Diego Llorente for the call-up, who did not exercise with the group in Monday’s session. But the main novelty in the summons is the return of Fornals. The man from Castellón, who suffered a relapse of his injury after playing against Rayo on December 22, has been training normally in recent days and was part of the expedition. Not so Marc Roca, Chimy Ávila, Bellerín and William Carvalho, who are still absent. Pellegrini praised Jesús Rodríguez a lot in the press conference, so the youth player has a good chance of starting the duel in the starting lineup. Betis has an opportunity to show that all football should not start from the creation and good work of Isco, but that players like Abde, extra motivated to play against his former team, must take a step forward. Probable lineups FC. Barcelona: Iñaki Peña; Koundé, Cubarsi, Araújo, Balde; Casadó, Pedri, Gavi; Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Lewandowski. Real Betis: Fran Vieites; Sabaly, Diego Llorente, Bartra, Perraud; Johnny Cardoso, Altimira; Jesús Rodríguez, Isco, Abde; and Vitor Roque. Referee: Sánchez Martínez (Murcia Committee). Stadium, time and television: Montjuïc-Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium. 9:00 p.m. Movistar Plus+ (dial 7). In Barcelona, without Szczesny, sanctioned after seeing a straight red card in the Super Cup final against Madrid, Íñigo Martínez, injured in said match, and Christensen, in the final stretch of his recovery, Iñaki Peña will be the starting goalkeeper while Araujo will occupy the axis of the defense along with Cubarsí. Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor, already registered, after the controversy resolved one day before the Super Cup dispute after the very precautionary measure granted by the Higher Sports Council, also have options to play, plus the first, in which case either Raphinha or Lamine Yamal would leave the starting eleven.
#Celso #difficult
