Xavi's Barca up against title hopefuls Sevilla in Camp Nou

Madrid, Dec 21 (IANS) Barcelona and Sevilla will play on Tuesday night (Wednesday IST) in a game that is important for the La Liga title race. The game actually belongs to the fourth round of the season, but was postponed due to both sides having players away on international duty in South America.It now comes with Xavi Hernandez at the helm of Barca attempting to promote youth team players and build for the future.There have been signs, such as the first-half display against Elche on Saturday (December 18) and the previous weekend's game away to Osasuna, that Xavi has a long-term repair job on his hands, especially with departures expected during the January transfer window.Sevilla have emerged as the main title rivals to Real Madrid this season and a win in the Camp Nou would lift them to just three points off the top of the table after their hard-fought 2-1 win against Atletico Madrid on Saturday (December 18), Xinhua reports. "We had a really tough game not long ago and now we have another really tough game," said Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui, stressing that Barca "has very good young players and (Ousmane) Dembele has recovered"."They are a powerful team and they want to compete," he added.Tuesday also sees Villarreal play at home to third-from-bottom Alaves, with Villarreal aiming to gain more momentum after their 3-1 win away to Real Sociedad.On Wednesday, Atletico Madrid visit an improving Granada, while Real Madrid travel to play Athletic Bilbao in the San Mames Stadium.
--IANSakm/

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