Sevilla vs Barcelona

Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan sets the stage for a farewell spectacle as Sevilla and Barcelona lock horns in their last game of the 2023/24 La Liga season.

It’s been another underwhelming season for Sevilla, who must end a three-game losing streak heading into the final weekend to replicate last season’s dismal 11th-place finish. Even if they achieve an unlikely victory here, it would still make for Los Rojiblancos’ joint-worst La Liga ranking since 1999/2000. However, they’ll be heavily motivated to uphold their admirable home record of winning four of their last six outings at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan (L2). That’s because this is manager Quique Sánchez Flores’ final game in charge of the Andalusian outfit. Confidence stems from Sevilla’s traditionally mighty season finales on home turf, having won their curtain-dropping La Liga home match in six of the past seven campaigns (L1), keeping a clean sheet in each triumph.

Like Flores, this is Xavi Hernandez’s last game at the helm of Barcelona after the club informed him of his imminent departure, with ex-Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick waiting in the wings. The Blaugrana legend can ride off into the sunset on a high after inspiring Barcelona to three consecutive league wins heading into the season finale, including a 3-0 thumping of Rayo Vallecano last weekend. A fourth straight success looks inevitable, as the visitors have won their four most recent league encounters against Sevilla, including a narrow 1-0 victory in this season’s reverse fixture. What’s more impressive is they kept the Andalusians at bay in all four triumphs, suggesting a fifth clean sheet in seven away league matches could be on the cards (W4, L2).