Sevilla vs Barcelona

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Barcelona plays Sevilla to end the 2023–24 La Liga season on Sunday night at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in what will be the last game of Xavi's turbulent reign.

Prior to the gameweek 38 match, La Blaugrana's second-place finish has already been confirmed, and their hosts will finish in the bottom half.

Though they can't contend for a spot in the top 10 in the last gameweek of the season, the current Los Palanganas squad is a far cry from the Sevilla squads of the past. At least they've banished any notions of a devastating drop to the second division.

Since the start of the new year, Quique Sanchez Flores has managed to stabilize the struggling Sevilla team, gathering 13 points out of a possible 15 between March 30 and May 5. This impressive run has lifted them out of the relegation battle. However, their recent performances haven't been impressive.

Sevilla, who will host Barcelona on Sunday, have suffered three consecutive defeats in the league. These losses came against Villarreal, relegated Cadiz, and Athletic Bilbao. In their last match, they conceded two early goals to Raul Garcia and Iker Muniain from Bilbao, and couldn't recover from the setback.

As a result, Sevilla currently sit in 13th place in the league table. Their position this weekend could improve to 11th, but they could also drop to 15th. Despite being just three points behind 16th-placed Rayo Vallecano, Sevilla don't have to worry about them surpassing thanks to the head-to-head tie-breaker.

Before they start thinking about the next season, Sevilla aim to extend their decent run of home form. They have won four of their last six matches at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, including victories against Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid. Additionally, they hope to capitalize on Barcelona's off-field issues.

After making extensive efforts to persuade Xavi to continue as head coach, despite his repeated assertions of leaving, president Joan Laporta has ultimately decided to replace the legendary Blaugrana midfielder. It's reported that Xavi's remarks on Barca's financial situation and title prospects might have irked the president. Consequently, Hansi Flick is poised to take over, having reportedly agreed verbally with the 2022-23 La Liga champions. Xavi will oversee his team's final match this Sunday before handing over the reins.

The Barcelona players must focus solely on their performance and block out any external distractions. Despite finishing second this season, they have shown strong form lately, winning their last three La Liga games without conceding a goal. Victories over Real Sociedad, Almeria, and Rayo Vallecano in the past two weeks signal their determination to carry this momentum into the next season.

Barcelona also boasts a remarkable streak of three consecutive away wins against Andalusian teams in La Liga, keeping clean sheets in their last two matches. Their recent dominance over Sevilla is evident, having won their last four encounters without conceding a single goal. Sevilla risks breaking an unwanted club record if they fail to score against Barcelona in Sunday's match, as they have never gone five consecutive top-flight games without scoring against their Catalan rivals.

Regarding Xavi's team, things remain the same in terms of fitness as Alejandro (hamstring), Gavi (ACL), and de Jong (ankle) are still recovering and will not be ready for the season's last game.

However, a few adjustments have been suggested, such as the potential addition of Inaki to start in goal in place of Marc-Andre ter Stegen, as Barca's leading goal scorer can no longer reach Athletic's Unai Simon at the top of the clean sheet rankings.

Pedri's brace off the bench last time out could be his ticket to a start over Fermin Lopez, while Andreas Christensen could return to his defensive midfield role in lieu of Sergi Roberto, a change that happened at halftime against Vallecano.

Boubakary Soumare's return from suspension will bolster Sevilla's ranks somewhat, but three starting from the Athletic defeat—Jesus Navas, Lucas Ocampos, and Marcos Acuna—were unable to fully train over the week for a variety of reasons.

Ocampos (sickness) and Acuna (precaution) should be good for Sunday, but Oliver Torres (shoulder), Isaac Romero (hamstring), Djibril Sow (foot), Erik Lamela (knee), and Nemanja Gudelj (knee) are all out. Navas and Suso are both doubtful because of muscle exhaustion.

In their most recent La Liga encounter, Sevilla was defeated 2-0 by Athletic Bilbao. In this game, they had four shots on goal and 47% of the possession. At San Mames, they too had three corners.

Barcelona defeated Rayo Vallecano 3-0 in their most recent La Liga encounter. In this game, they possessed 72% of the ball and had six shots on goal. At Estadio Olimpico Lluis Companys, they also had seven corners, with two goals each from Pedri and Robert Lewandowski.

Barcelona defeated Sevilla 1-0 at Estadio Olimpico Lluis Companys in their most recent meeting.

In their last ten meetings, Sevilla has only triumphed once, with three draws and six victories for Barcelona. In these games, goals have been scored on average of 1.9.