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Barcelona and Real Betis meet at Spotify Camp Nou on Saturday with Xavi's side fortunate that Real Madrid did not close the gap in midweek as Los Blancos unexpectedly went down to Girona. Barca were beaten by Rayo Vallecano too so there was no change in the 11-point gap between the pair but now Real could close that to eight ahead of this one if they beat Almeria at home. The Catalan giants can maintain their lead or potentially extend it if their Madrid rivals drop points and Xavi will want to see more from his side after blasting their attitude in defeat to Rayo.

Here's our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:

How to watch and odds

  • Date: Saturday, Apr. 29 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
  • Location: Spotify Camp Nou -- Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
  • TV/Live stream: ESPN+ 
  • Odds: Barca -300; Draw: +380; Betis +850 (via Caesars Sportsbook)

Team news

Barca: Ousmane Dembele and Andreas Christensen should be back in the squad after their injuries while Sergio Busquets is also back from suspension. Sergi Roberto is a doubt with a hamstring issue so Busquets could join Pedri and Frenkie de Jong in midfield with Gavi moving forward and Ferran Torres dropping out. Alejandro Balde could switch from kleft back to right back with Jordi Alba expected to dislodge Marcos Alonso.

Potential Barca XI: Ter Stegen; Balde, Kounde, Araujo, Alba; De Jong, Busquets (c), Pedri; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Gavi.

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Betis: Victor Ruiz, Juanmi, Youssouf Sabaly and Nabil Fekir are all expected to miss out here for Manuel Pellegrini's side. Luiz Henrique and Borja Iglesias could return to the XI with Andres Guardado and Rodri potentially dropping out and William Carvalho going deeper and Ayoze Perez taking a wider role if Iglesias leads the attack.

Potential Betis XI: Silva; Ruibal, Felipe, Pezzella, Miranda; Rodriguez, Carvalho; Perez, Canales (c), Henrique; Iglesias.

Prediction

This one should be tight but Betis have won just once in their last five to jeopardize their UEFA Champions League hopes while Barca are slightly better over the same period with two wins and just that one loss. Pick: Barca 2, Betis 1.