Barcelona Target Second Spot with Sevilla Live on StarTimes

Barcelona fans are used to seeing their team compete for honours, but this year, things have not gone to plan.

Knocked out in the Champions League and the Copa Del Rey, Barça have been playing catch-up with their big rivals Real Madrid from the first match-day.

With just 10 matches to play, one more than Real Madrid, Barcelona are 12 points behind the club from the capital and catching Carlo Ancelotti’s side is surely too high a mountain to climb.

However, despite the huge deficit, Barcelona players have not given up in the title race. “We have that hope [of winning the title] and we will have it until the end. We have to win and wait. We have a very good streak. This is the mentality to have in order to have any minimal option,” midfielder Sergio Busquets said.

But realistically, presumably, the next best thing to winning the league is finishing runner-up and currently, Sevilla are still ahead of Barcelona, but all of that could change on Sunday as Sevilla travel to Camp Nou.

The match is the stand-out feature in Spain and will grab headlines all over the world. African fans will have an opportunity to watch the game live and exclusively on the StarTimes channels as the continent’s leading digital-TV operator shows all the best action from the best leagues in Europe, including La Liga.

Morale in Xavi’s team must be sky-high, coming from a 4-0 victory in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

Barcelona’s form in the last 10 La Liga matches has been outstanding with Gabonese international Pierre Emerick Aubameyang playing a huge part in the revitalised performances that have seen Barça win eight and draw two.

The striker, who made the move to Spain in the winter transfer window, has scored seven goals in seven La Liga matches and will be the one that Sevilla need to close down if they want to stand a chance to avoid defeat.

If there is any club that can do just that, it is presumably Sevilla, who arguably have the strongest defence in the league.

No club has let in fewer goals than Julen Lopetegui’s team, with goalkeeper Bono being in outstanding form and having just helped Morocco secure World Cup qualification.

The Canadian-born goalkeeper did, however, pick up a facial injury in the return leg against the DRC Congo and had to be replaced. The injury, which saw him receive several stitches, could see him ruled out of Sunday’s game.

In front of him, Jules Koundé and Diego Carlos have kept the opponents’ strikers at bay and between them, no other players have as much game time at Sevilla, as the trio.