LIONEL MESSI'S RETURN MAKES SEVILLA'S WINLESS STREAK AT THE NOU CAMP UNLIKELY TO END.

On Sunday night, a rejuvenated Barca side will welcome sixth placed Sevilla at the Nou Camp in a game that promises to be keenly contested.

Despite both teams going into Sunday's clash with identical points,13, the standings reveal the slight chasm between these clubs, with Barcelona at 4th on the League table with a goal difference of six and Sevilla 6th, with a goal difference of three. Ironically, Los Hispalenses boast of a better defence having conceded 7 in 7 games to Barca's 10 in 7 games somewhat highlighting the ability of the Catalan club's front men to bang in the goals despite spells in which key cogs like Luis Suarez, Dembele and team captain Lionel Messi have had to battle with minor injuries.

On Wednesday, midweek, against Serie A league leaders, Inter Milan in the Champions League, Luis Suarez's double and an inspiring Lionel Messi performance ensured that, FC Barcelona were able to claw their way back from a goal down to ultimately register their first CL win after two games in the 2019/20 season having had to settle for a stalemate at Signal Iduna.

Noticeably, a slow start against Inter which has actually been the case for Valverde's men all season, meant they had to win the game the hard way, with a goal down against a Conte inspired team that were defensively solid with a flat 3-5-2 shape. At half time Inter led which was soon going to change after the break, when the sheer brilliance of Luis Suarez in the final third in the second half, demonstrated how demoralising this Barca side have been at home for so many years in the CL.

A fortress it was midweek, a fortress it will be for Sevilla this Sunday as Lionel Messi's return all the more rightly suggest Barca might make it four wins in their last four games, a win-streak that the team badly yearns for at the moment after huge struggles initially in the season.

However, despite Barca's immense superiority at the Nou Camp, this new Sevilla team under the tutelage of Julen Lopetegui could well eye for an end to their bizzare winless run at the Nou Camp. Granted, Sevilla haven't won at the Nou Camp for years, and to heighten the difficulty, the return of Dembele and Messi, yet it still would be utterly ridiculous to write them off. A "work-in-progress", a perfect description for this Julen Lopetegui's side, perhaps, exhibited after a show of pure quality last weekend in an engrossing nail-biter against Real Sociedad that ended 3-2 in their favour marking arguably the best La Liga game yet this season.

Four wins in their last six games shouldn't be bad for a potential top four candidate. The trip to Nou Camp may refreshen ill memories on the the path of the former Real Madrid boss, Lopetegui, whose side lost 5-1 in a clasico to ultimately end his reign as head coach of Los Blancos.

At Nou Camp and with Lionel Messi's return, Sevilla faces an uphill battle as they aim to cause an upset.

Credited to Bright N. B. Antwi