Barcelona winger Neymar. (Photo : Getty Images)
Defending champions and current league leaders FC Barcelona (20-2-3, 63 points) will look to keep or increase their 8-point clearance over the other contenders as they face fifth-running Sevilla FC (11-6-8, 41 points) at the Camp Nou on Sunday, Feb. 28th for a 2015-2016 La Liga season game.
Barcelona, fresh off a 2-0 win over Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday, is currently on an 8-game winning run and an 18-game unbeaten streak in the Spanish domestic league. Curiously, though, their last defeat is in the hands of Sevilla, 1-2, way back on October 3rd of last year at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium.
In their last match in La Liga, Barça nipped a surprising Las Palmas eleven, 2-1, at the Estadio Gran Canaria last Saturday, as per SkySports.
Barcelona striker Luis Suárez opened the scoring at the sixth minute, but Los Amarillos forward Willian Jose equalized it immediately four minutes later.
However, the Catalonia giants are still too much to handle for Las Palmas as Brazilian captain Neymar struck another goal at the 39th, which proved to be the winner as both teams went scoreless the rest of the way.
With 63 points, the Blaugrana is now eight points clear off second-running Atletico Madrid and nine points above arch-rival Real Madrid in the overall standings.
Meanwhile, Sevilla settled for a 2-2 draw with lowly squad Rayo Vallecano last Sunday at the Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas, as reported by Sports Mole.
Sevilla midfielders Steven N'Zonzi and Vicente Iborra poured in a goal each, scoring at the 10th and 20th-minute marks of the first half respectively. Rayo forward Manucho managed to net once two minutes before the break as Los Rojiblancos managed to reach halftime up 2-1.
The Sevillistas eventually squandered the two-point advantage as Rayo levelled the count at 2-all in the 62nd courtesy of a close range shot from Venezuelan forward Miku.
The draw was Sevilla's third in its last six outings as they are undefeated in the same time span as well.
The predicted result is a 3-0 victory for Barcelona. Barça will redeem themselves from their loss to Sevilla during their first meeting of the season.
Barcelona starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Bravo; Alves, Mascherano, Mathieu, Alba; Turan, Roberto, Iniesta; Messi, Suárez, Neymar
Sevilla starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Rico; Coke, Rami, Fazio, Tremoulinas; Pepe, N'Zonzi; Vitolo, Iborra, Krohn-Dehli; Gameiro
