Barcelona vs Real Betis
LaLiga 2019-20
Venue: Camp Nou
Date: Sunday, August 25th, 2019
Kick-off time: 8pm BST
Barcelona are looking to recover from last weekend's shock defeat to Athletic Bilbao as the Spanish champions host Real Betis at Camp Nou on Sunday night.
Barca kicked off their LaLiga title defence in limp fashion with a 1-0 defeat to Athletic as Ernesto Valverde's side keenly felt the absence of talisman Lionel Messi.
As was often the case last season, Barca struggled to find a solution without Messi on hand to bail them out - but the Argentine will be back fit and firing as the champions play in front of their home fans this weekend.
Barcelona team news
Valverde will welcome back Messi after the forward returned to training in midweek. Had Barca beaten Athletic, Messi may have been a substitute this weekend - but that 1-0 loss means it is likely the 32-year-old will be rushed back to a starting role as soon as possible.
Messi's return is all the more important given that Valverde will be without injured duo Ousmane Dembele and Luis Suarez.
Barcelona predicted lineup: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Alba; Roberto, Busquets, De Jong, Rakitic; Messi, Griezmann
Prediction: Barcelona 2-0 Real Betis
Barca won 15 of their 19 home games last season, scoring 51 goals, and it is tough to look past them - even with their recent injury troubles.
Messi is still good enough win a game on his own, while Antoine Griezmann will be expected to step up in the absence of Suarez and Dembele.
Betis are no slouches and finished 10th last term, but an opening-day home defeat to Real Valladolid doesn't exactly leave them in the best shape heading to Catalonia.
Betting tips via Betfair | UK users only | Subject to change
Match odds
- Bilbao to win: 4/1
- Draw: 29/10
- Barca to win: 7/10
- Barca to win 2-0: 7/1
Tickets
Click here for more ticket information from Barca's website.
TV channel and live stream information
Fans of LaLiga in the UK and Ireland will be able to watch the competition after all as ITV announced plans to show one game per week.
There was no buyer when rights for LaLiga were auctioned in July, but ITV confirmed one day before the season started that they would show one live game in each of the first three matchdays.
The match will be screened live for free on ITV4, and can be streamed online via the ITV Hub.
You can follow all the action and analysis on Standard Sport's LIVE blog with Ben Hayward.
