Category World News

Who: Barcelona vs. Real Betis
What: Spain’s La Liga
Where: Estadio Benito Villamarin in Seville, Spain
When: Saturday, December 6 at 6:30pm (17:30 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 14:30 GMT in advance of our text commentary stream.

Real Betis hosts defending champions Barcelona on Saturday, with the possibility of extending their lead to four points at the top of the La Liga table. Real Madrid will miss their Sunday game against Celta Vigo, who are currently defending champions.

However, the Catalan giants have had a mixed start to the season, and Betis are a team that is still riding the wave from last year that saw them reach the Europa Conference final.

What could possibly be Hansi Flick’s Barca’s most recent stern test is examined by Al Jazeera Sport.

What is Barcelona’s current La Liga record?

With a 3-1 victory over Atletico Madrid, Barca won their fifth straight league game.

Real Madrid’s four-point lead was widened by that result’s victory over Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, only to reclaim one point after that result.

When Flick’s side lost three of their previous five games, losing in particular to Real Madrid in October, their worst performance came in that game. Prior to their five-game winning streak in La Liga, which had only five goals conceded in those two games, they only had the opportunity to score two league goals.

What is Real Betis’s current La Liga record?

In eight matches, Betis has won six, helping the Seville-based club move up to fifth place in La Liga. They are unbeaten in all eight of their matches. However, the gap between the top four and the Champions League qualifying spots is 11 points, making this game crucial for those above in terms of their goals for the season.

Their most recent defeat was against Atletico Madrid, who won 2-0 in Seville in October, immediately before them. That defeat leaves Betis with only 17 victories out of 17 matches played overall.

Following their participation in the Copa del Rey in midweek, which saw them advance with a 4-1 victory over Torrent in the Spanish third division, Betis now have a game in hand.

Real Betis have they ever won La Liga?

In 1934-1935, Real won the La Liga title once more. However, they have won the Copa del Rey three times, the last of which was in 2022.

In the Europa Conference last year, Chelsea finished second behind the seven-time champions of the Spanish second division.

What transpired between Real Betis and Barcelona last time?

The last La Liga encounter between the teams was in Barcelona in April, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

In the fifth minute, Gavi gave the visitors the lead, and Natan’s goal, which Natan scored, was only 17 minutes later, sealed the deal.

The final game of the La Liga campaign is currently scheduled to be against Barcelona this year.

What transpired last season in the corresponding match?

On December 7, the La Liga game in Seville ended with a 2-2 draw.

With Betis levelling through Giovani Lo Celso’s penalty in the 68th minute and Assane Diao’s 90th-minute strike, Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres scored twice to give the away side the lead.

When did Real Betis last last face Barcelona?

In Barcelona’s Copa del Rey game, the teams met between the two La Liga matches last year.

The home team won the match 5-1, going on to settle the tie before Vitor Roque’s consolation penalty in the 84th minute. Goals from Gavi, Jules Kounde, Raphinha, Ferran Torres, and Lamine Yamal all came from the penalty spot.

Real Betis last defeated Barcelona at what point?

In a league game in the Catalan capital in 2021, Real Betis defeated Barcelona. In the 79th minute, Juanmi scored the only goal for Getafe.

Real Betis Stat Attack

This season, Betis only lost once, but both of those losses were at home. In their seven unbeaten league games on the road, they have won four games at home while recording two victories.

In their last four La Liga games, they have won two and are unbeaten.

Barcelona’s stat attack

This year, Barcelona have lost two league games on the road, both of which were losses.

In their seven away games, of which they have won four, Barca have found their travels more difficult with 16 goals scored and 12 conceded.

The Flick’s side have lost three of their last five away games and drawn one; in addition, they have conceded 14 goals in that road trip.

Real Betis and Barcelona square off in a contest.

Barcelona won 38 of the 71 meetings between the two teams, with Betis claiming the spoils from 10 of those victories.

Barcelona have won six of their previous nine meetings with Betis, continuing to win the title.

Real Betis team information

Antony, a former Manchester United player, returns to the side after being suspended. Hector Bellerin and Isco have both been confirmed absentees due to injury issues, while Sofyan Amrabat and Giovani Lo Celso have injury issues.

After making significant adjustments to the team for Tuesday’s Copa del Rey win at Torrent, former Barcelona attacker Abde Ezzalzouli is expected to make a full comeback.

news from the Barcelona team

Fermin Lopez and Dani OImo, who both suffered knocks in the previous match, are now listed on the injured list.

While Ronald Araujo rests, he is not a football player.

Due to illness, Frenkie de Jong missed the win against Atletico Madrid. He will now play in the middle.

Real Betis had a lineup in mind.

Valles, Ruibal, Natan, Bartra, Gomez, Altimira, Roca, Antony, Fornals, Ezzalzouli, Hernandez, and others

Barcelona’s lineup was anticipated.

The death of Gaza militia leader Yasser Abu Shabab, who had been receiving support from his Popular Forces organization and Israeli media, is the final chapter of a man who attempted to stand up for Israel against Hamas but who was widely derided as a collaborator.

Before joining a militia last year, Abu Shabab, who was in his early 30s and from the Bedouin Tarabin tribe in southern Gaza, was largely unheard in the Palestinian enclave. By the end of May, the organization had become known as the “Popular Forces,” a well-armed group of at least 100 fighters operating in Gaza’s under-terrorized areas.

The organization presented itself as a nationalist Palestinian organization dedicated to combating Hamas despite operating between a criminal gang and an Israeli proxy force.

Even though the group’s end goal was never fully understood, that branding served an Israeli purpose, especially once it became clear that the Popular Forces lacked any form of widespread appeal.

Abu Shabab was a criminal, according to many Palestinians, because he had been incarcerated by the Palestinians in Gaza for a number of years on drug-related charges before escaping prison in the beginning of the Gaza war.

His subsequent alliance with Israel, which killed more than 70 Palestinians and 120 others in a genocide in Gaza, immediately disqualified for the majority of Palestinians, including his own tribe, who claimed in a statement that his death marked “the end of a dark chapter that does not represent the history of the tribe.”

Ideological ambiguity

It’s challenging to pin down Abu Shabab’s ideology because many observers believe he was motivated by power rather than a particular political stance.

Given the reports of his connections to ISIL (ISIS), which are mostly related to cooperation in smuggling from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula to Gaza, rather than any shared ideology, the initial branding of his group in the language of “anti-terrorism” is ironic.

Abu Shabab’s social media background and background, with English-language posts and even an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal, have always been at odds with one another.

In that article, Abu Shabab claimed that his Popular Forces were “ready to build a new future” and that they were in charge of a significant portion of southern Rafah.

The article he was quoted as saying, “Our main goal is to separate Palestinians from the fire of war from Hamas.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged in June that his government was using armed clans to fight Hamas while Abu Shabab made an effort to minimize his ties to Israel.

Even after previous unsuccessful attempts to collaborate with local organizations like the South Lebanon Army in Israel’s northern neighbor, security officials gave rise to the idea of using such forces, according to Netanyahu.

Looting

The Popular Forces has attempted to present itself as a group supporting the US- and Israeli-backed GHF in distributing much-needed aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

Abu Shabab shared images of its forces dispersing aid with CNN and that he was in charge of “a group of citizens from this community who have volunteered to protect humanitarian aid from corruption and looting.”

However, security sources in Gaza confirmed to Al Jazeera Arabic that Abu Shabab and the Popular Forces had since been accused of looting aid convoys, with an internal UN memo claiming him to be “the main and most influential stakeholder behind systematic and massive looting.”

As Gaza experienced a famine brought on by Israeli restrictions on aid entry and the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure, those accusations made it seem like Abu Shabab was merely an Israeli proxy.

Perhaps it isn’t surprising that few Palestinians in Gaza, even those opposed to Hamas, are teary about Abu Shabab’s murder.

Similar to Abu Shabab’s origins and his role in the war, the circumstances surrounding that killing continue to be murky.

Campaigners in Gaza called for better recognition of disabled people as they gathered with people with a range of disabilities to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The trophy will be displayed during the FIFA World Cup 2026 draw on Friday in Washington, DC. The largest World Cup ever held will take place. Rosiland Jordan from Al Jazeera explains the draw and the competition.