The Primera Liga leaders Barcelona travel to Real Betis's Luiz de Lopera stadium tonight where they have struggled over the past decade, winning only two matches and losing five, including a 3-2 defeat last season in a game they led by two goals. The defender Gerard Pique said: "In general, our track record at that stadium has been difficult."
Kaka, the AC Milan playmaker, looks like losing his fight to be fit for tomorrow's Milan derby against Serie A leaders Inter. His absence means Ronaldinho will return to the starting line-up and Inter keeper Julio Cesar said: "Naturally Milan may miss this great player [Kaka]. But Ronaldinho scored against me in the early-season fixture."
The Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc said he was unhappy that midfielder Yoann Gourcuff played the full 90 minutes for France's 2-0 friendly defeat against Argentina on Wednesday. "I thought I had understood Yoann would be substituted by Samir Nasri at half-time," Blanc said: "If we have him play all the time, we are going to break him."
