The international break is over and La Liga is back this weekend, with FC Barcelona looking to consolidate their place at the top of the Liga table as they take on Sevilla at the Estadi Olimpic in a 9pm CEST kick-off. As always, we have prepared a global guide to times and broadcasters to help you work out how to watch the game wherever you are in the world.
Barça had been on an absolute roll, starting the season with seven straight wins, before suffering 4-2 defeat at Osasuna. However the two results since then suggest that Pamplona was just a nasty blip, for the team responded by putting five goals past Young Boys in the Champions League and making the job look easy as they cruised to a 3-0 win at Alavés.
Next up it's Sevilla, who in the last year or so have been but a shadow of their usual selves, and for the first time in two decades are not playing any kind of European football this season. The man charged with getting the club back on track is a familiar face to Barça fans. Before guiding Las Palmas back into the top flight, García Pimienta spent several years coaching at the Ciutat Esportiva, winning the UEFA Youth League and then managing Barça Atlètic.
His first few games didn't end too well, but he seems to be slowly getting things into shape, and will have taken particular pleasure from winning the derby with Betis in their most recent test. But much as the results have been improving, Sevilla have yet to win any games on the road. And much as we would normally wish the best for a man who served the blaugrana colours so well over the years, hopefully things are going to stay that way for at least another week!
But Sevilla is never an easy test, whatever recent results between these teams might suggest. Indeed, and quite extraordinarily, Barça have only lost once to the Andalusians once since 2007 (the sole defeat was nine years ago), and it is over two decades since they last lost this fixture at home. The Catalans are currently on a run of five straight wins. Time to make it six!
Barça went into the weekend top of the league, three points clear of Real Madrid, but the sides are now tied on points after the all-whites won 2-1 at Celta on Saturday. But Barça still have the edge on goal difference, and of course, still have their game with Sevilla to play.
And of course, the next league game for Barça is the biggie. It's none other than the trip to the Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday. And before that there's a huge Champions League date with Bayern Munich, a club against which the Catalans have several scores to settle. Those are two massive distractions, but coach Hansi Flick insisted in his pre-game press conference that for the time being there is only one thing on everyone's mind, and that's Sevilla.
Injuries have been horribly unkind to Barça this season, but this week brings some more positive news following the return to action of Frenkie de Jong. Because after almost a year sidelined by a knee injury, Gavi has finally been declared fully fit and included in the squad. But that's not all the good news, for Fermín Lopez is over his own troubles, and so is Dani Olmo, who got off to such an explosive start at his new club before his excellent progress was cut short by injury.
All three of those players have been included in the squad, although it remains to be seen whether Hansi Flick opts to give any or even all of them any time on pitch.
And the positive news keeps coming! Both Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski returned from duty for Spain and Poland carrying knocks, but it turns out that neither problem as as serious as originally feared, and both are fully available for Sunday as is new goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny who has also been named in the squad
As well as the German stopper, Ferran Torres, Marc Bernal, Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo are the other Barça players still out with fitness issues.
As for the visitors, we know that Saúl Ñíguez is not fit and Tanguy Nianzou is suspended after being sent off against Betis.
It's a mighty seven day stretch for Hansi Flick's team. Sevilla visits Barcelona to resume league action before Los Culés welcome Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Oct. 23 and then travel to Madrid for El Clásico against Real Madrid on Oct. 26.
There were some scares during the international break for the Catalans with both Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal returning to Barcelona with fitness concerns. Both players seem to have avoided serious injuries; however, Flick might err on the side of caution considering the upcoming busy schedule.
It's not all bad news for the Blaugranas. Gavi, Fermin López and Dani Olmo all returned to training and could see minutes in the game against Sevilla, though it would seem wise for Flick to ease them back to action.
GK: Wojciech Szczęsny—The Polish goalkeeper declared himself ready to make his Barcelona debut and with big games in the horizon it would be wise to give him the opportunity to use this Sevilla match to tune-up.
LB: Alejandro Balde—After an injury plagued season, Balde is back to the level that saw him play for Spain in the 2022 FIFA World Cup as a teenager.
CB: Pau Cubarsí—The 17-year-old La Masia product continues to put in solid performances that have earned him a call to the Spanish national team.
CB: Iñigo Martínez—The veteran presence in Barcelona's defense has taken a step up in his second season with the team building a strong partnership with Cubarsí.
RB: Jules Koundé—Koundé has become an essential piece for both Barcelona and France thanks to his stout defense and clarity with the ball.
CM: Marc Casadó—The 21-year-old had started to see more and more minutes in midfield before the international break. He's played the full 90 minutes in three out of the last four Barcelona games in all competitions.
CM: Frenkie de Jong—Having already played his first minutes of the season plus a two week break to fully get back into shape, the Dutch midfielder could start a game for the first time since April.
LW: Raphinha—Raphinha has been arguably Barcelona's best player this season. His strong form continued as he shined for Brazil, scoring two goals during the international break.
AM: Pedri—It wouldn't be the first time we see Pedri occupy the No. 10 role. With the health of Barcelona's midfield starting to improve, we could see him partner de Jong at the base moving forward with Olmo returning to the attacking midfielder role.
RW: Pau Víctor—Víctor should be in line to start, allowing Yamal to be fully healthy for the upcoming matches when Barcelona need him most.
ST: Robert Lewandowski—Although he did suffer an injury scare, Lewandowski seems poised to start given the limited alternatives Barcelona have in the striker position. The Polish striker has started every game in La Liga so far and leads the race for the golden boot with 10 goals through nine games.
