Hansi Flick’s Barcelona have won every La Liga game they have played this season and travel to the Estadio La Cartuja de Sevilla with 34 goals in eight matches. The German has guided the champions to a five-point lead over Atlético Madrid and Betis, who sit level on 19 points in second and third, with Real Madrid six points back in fourth.
Kick-off is at 6:30pm local time on Saturday, October 17, at the stadium Betis use for higher-profile home fixtures instead of Benito Villamarín.
Flick’s run extends beyond the league. Barcelona beat Galatasaray 4-1 in the Champions League on October 13, their tenth consecutive win across all competitions. Roony Bardghji remains out with a cruciate ligament injury, but Raphinha and Frenkie de Jong both completed full training on Thursday and are expected to be available.
Flick now carries the best win rate of any manager in Barcelona’s history: 98 wins from 127 games, a success rate of 77 percent that nudged him past Luis Enrique earlier in the week.
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Manuel Pellegrini’s Betis have lost only once in La Liga and arrive in confident form, with six wins and a draw from their eight league outings. Júnior Firpo is sidelined with a muscle injury.
Lazio arrive in Turin unbeaten
Juventus host Lazio in Turin on Sunday with the Bianconeri sixth in Serie A and five points behind the co-leaders. Luciano Spalletti’s side have three wins, two draws and one defeat from six matches, drawing 1-1 away to Cagliari in their most recent outing.
Lazio sit on 16 points, level with Inter at the top and unbeaten in the league. Gennaro Gattuso’s team beat Monza 3-1 last time out and have become one of the surprises of the early Italian season.
Spalletti is missing seven players for the Sunday fixture, including Kenan Yildiz, Manuel Locatelli and Khephren Thuram. Lazio will be without Nicolò Rovella and Adam Marušić, with Albert Gudmundsson also out. Matteo Cancellieri could return. Kick-off is at 8:45pm local time.
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A home win would move Juventus within two points of the top of Serie A. A Lazio victory would send Gattuso’s team clear of Inter at the summit before the Milan derby a week later. For Barcelona, three points at La Cartuja would push the lead at the top of La Liga to eight before Flick’s team travel to the Santiago Bernabéu for the Clásico on October 25.
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