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Three talking points ahead of Sevilla vs Barcelona | La Liga MD 7
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- Three talking points ahead of Sevilla vs Barcelona | La Liga MD 7
Three talking points ahead of Sevilla vs Barcelona | La Liga MD 7
Matchday 7 of the 2026/27 La Liga season gets underway this weekend and it will be the final round of fixtures before teams break for the three-week international window.
Coming into the matchday, reigning champions FC Barcelona remain the only team in La Liga to have won all their fixtures so far, collecting 18 points from their opening six matches.
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The most recent win came against Racing Santander on Wednesday night, with the Blaugrana absolutely thrashing the newly-promoted club 7-2 at the Spotify Camp Nou.
But, next up for Hansi Flick & co. is a tricky test in the form of Sevilla away at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan on Saturday night.
Sevilla, under Luis Garcia Plaza, have made a solid start to the season so far, as they occupy the fifth place in the table with 13 points (W4 D1 L1).
Los Nervionenses are unbeaten in their previous three matches and defeated Deportivo de A Coruna 1-0 in their latest fixture earlier this week. They have conceded only six goals so far, the joint-lowest in the competition.
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However, Barcelona 's mighty attack has looked unstoppable this term, netting 28 goals in La Liga and five more in the UEFA Champions League. And, the champions will be intent on maintaining that momentum heading into the international break.
Barça Universal brings three talking points ahead of tomorrow's enticing matchup in Seville.
A tricky challenge
Barcelona have been near-flawless so far this season, especially in attack, scoring goals for fun and controlling matches for the most part.
However, playing Sevilla in their own backyard is never an easy game, as Barcelona found out for themselves last season.
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The Blaugrana were beaten 4-1 by the Andalusian outfit in October last year at the Ramon Sanchez-Pijzuan.
This season, Luis Garcia Plaza's men have been fairly solid at home, winning two of three – beating Rayo Vallecano and Valencia , although the other game ended in a 1-3 defeat to Atletico Madrid .
Furthermore, Sevilla come into the game having managed to keep back-to-back clean sheets in the league against Deportivo and Valencia. Their goalkeeper, Odysseas Vlachodimos , has made 15 saves in the competition.
So, the game will present a challenge for Barcelona, perhaps their toughest one so far this season, although it will take a lot for the hosts to stop the free-scoring Blaugrana attack .
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Flick trusts Szczesny
Szczesny set to start in Joan Garcia 's absence. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Barcelona will go into the game against Sevilla without their first-choice goalkeeper Joan Garcia. The 25-year-old had to be taken off at half-time against Racing Santander earlier this week due to an injury scare.
While the injury turned out to be a minor one, the Catalans do not wish to take any risks and as such, the Spaniard will not be in the squad for tomorrow's trip to Sevilla.
In his absence, Wojciech Szczesny is all set to step into the spotlight as Barcelona's starting goalkeeper. The veteran Polish goalkeeper replaced Joan Garcia against Racing and committed a horrendous mistake that cost his team a goal.
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That moment raised serious questions about his suitability and readiness to play, especially with Barça having another proven and experienced goalkeeper in Dominik Livakovic available at their disposal.
However, Flick has thrown his weight behind Szczesny , insisting that the former Arsenal and Juventus ace continues to enjoy his full trust, all but confirming that he will start against Sevilla.
It will now be up to the veteran goalkeeper, who came out of retirement to join Barcelona in 2024, to repay the manager's faith and deliver a strong performance in Garcia's absence.
Rest for the weary
So far this season, Flick has been watchful when it comes to making rotations to the team, keeping changes to the starting XI as minimal as possible.
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However, considering that this will be the Catalans' third match in the space of seven days, it would make sense for the German tactician to make some alterations.
Even more so considering that some players will soon be departing for national team duty, which will include travel and three to four matches in quick succession.
For example, Raphinha will be travelling approximately 34,000 kilometres during the upcoming international break with the Brazil national team to play two friendlies against Australia and one more vs India.
So, it might be prudent that he is given a breather by Flick, with Gabriel Jesus ready to take a bigger role after impressing in his cameos so far.
The likes of Pedri and Rodri , too, could do with a rest having started game after game, allowing lesser used players such as Gavi and Marc Bernal to get minutes.
