Barcelona look to build upon Mallorca win as they travel to take on a tough Real Betis side

The Catalan side want to leave their troubles in November behind and continue with a perfect December start

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FBL-ESP-LIGA-MALLORCA-BARCELONA | JAIME REINA/GettyImages

The month of November, particularly the latter stage, was not kind to Barcelona as it saw them drop points in their final three games with losses to Real Sociedad and Las Palmas and a draw against Celta Vigo.

The Catalan side is hopeful that December is kinder to them as they've started the month on a positive note, beating Real Mallorca 5-1 with a brace from Raphinha.

The Brazilian has had a breakout season and is expected to start against Real Betis on Saturday.

"We need Raphinha in all of the games, he is a key player for us," Hansi Flick said in his prematch press conference. "We will see how he is. If Rapha says he is good, we see how long he can play whether that is 90, or 70, or 60 . He will play what he can. He will start tomorrow, Lewandowski is also important for us, and he will start too."

The Polish striker was rested against Mallorca and would certainly have liked to have been involved in what turned out to be a goalfest for Barcelona.

While Barcelona have enjoyed recent success at the Estadio Benito Villamarin, they cannot take a win for granted considering the way things have gone during their trips away from home. Even the win against Mallorca was labored despite the final score.

"Every match starts 0-0 and also it's very important that we have the same mentality than in Mallorca," Flick said. "It's the next away match from three. We also have next week away in the Champions League."

It's an opportunity for Barcelona to not only maintain their status as league leaders but to put the pressure on the likes of Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. The former is coming off a loss against Athletic Bilbao and face another difficult away match to Girona.

A win would also be ideal given their next opponent is Borussia Dortmund, in Dortmund, in the Champions League. Going to Germany having taken care of business domestically would give Barcelona that much more confidence with the prospect of etching their name directly to the knockout phase with a victory.