Barcelona – Sevilla Prediction & Picks (12.08.2018)

On Sunday there will be a battle for the Spanish Super Cup. Where Seville has been busy for a while due to Europa League commitments, Barcelona is the first official match of the new season. Prior to this competition much has been said and written about the new setup. The fight for the Supercup is decided this time in only one game and takes place for the first time outside of Spain, in Tangier (Morocco). Furthermore, a video arbitrator is introduced in the Spanish battle. Will Seville seize the opportunity to outwit an incomplete Barça? Or should the team still bend for the Catalan record holder?

Barcelona:

The Catalan team has so far shown little in the preparation for the new season. In the International Champions Cup two defeats had to be cashed against AC Milan and AS Roma and only managed to beat Tottenham after penalties. Although the lesser performances are largely due to the lack of the biggest names, Barcelona will not start with the best eleven on Sunday. New acquisitions Lenglet and Arthur are expected to start, but on the axis of the field, according to the Spanish media, Umtiti and Rakitic are missing. New arrival Arturo Vidal is also expected to be canceled.

Despite the unpredictable preparation and a number of missing players, Valverde’s team remains the big favorite in the confrontation with Sevilla. In the Spanish cup final, the two teams met for the last time and Barça wiped the weak Sevillanos 5-0. With twelve final prizes, the Catalans are also record holders, Sevilla only managed to confiscate the Supercup (2007) once.

Seville:

The club from the Andalusian capital will, at all costs, want to hunt for rehabilitation after the chance-free cup final. Although there has been a lot of protest from the Sevillian camp against the new design of the Supercup, the club finally agreed. Coach Machín has a perfect selection and with a lot of reinforcements in the ranks will make a throw to the first prize of the season.

Sevilla has a good preparation behind it and also in the preliminaries of the Europa League, the team has performed very well. Although there has not yet been strong opposition, the team makes a strong impression. It is interesting to see to what extent the team is up to the Catalan superpower and whether Lenglet (Barcelona) and Aleix Vidal (Sevilla) can bring something special to the game against their old team.