Barcelona vs Sevilla: 5 Things to watch out for in the Copa Del Rey Final

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The Copa Del Rey final is one of the most prestigious cup competitions in the world

The Copa Del Rey fever is back and the two sides that will be playing in the final of this hugely-popular competition are Sevilla and Barcelona.

Judging by the quality of the teams that will lock horns for the title, it is surely going to be a fantastic game to watch.

Barcelona have played Sevilla twice this season, winning the home game by a 2-1 margin. They needed the genius of Lionel Messi though, to salvage a 2-2 draw against Sevilla in the away game.

Both the teams are high on morale and possess fabulous attacking intent on display. Let's take a look at the five things that one should watch out for, in the upcoming match.


#1 New record for Messi to break

Barcelona v Valencia - La Liga
Will Messi lead Barcelona to a 30th Copa Del Rey title?

Messi has a very bad habit of breaking records each time he graces the football pitch. The world is often left awed by the magic and genius of the diminutive Argentinean, who is considered by many as the greatest player to have ever played the beautiful game.

Messi has been the vital driving force behind Barcelona's performances this season. He has scored 47 goals in the Copa Del Rey so far, and could very well score a few more in the final.

He could overtake former Barcelona player Kubala who has scored 48 goals and the legendary Ferenc Puskas of Real Madrid, who has scored 49 goals in the competition and move into the 50-goals club of the Copa Del Rey.

Sevilla aren't alien to Messi's dynamic vision and capability to change games single-handedly. They were forced to play out a draw in their last encounter.

Messi assisted Suarez's goal in the 88th minute, before scoring in the 89th minute himself to level the scores.

Will Messi be the difference for Barcelona on Saturday night?

#2 Sevilla's attacking threat

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Sevilla have been the giant killers this time out in the Champions League

Sevilla FC are not a team to be taken lightly. Manchester United did the same and suffered a bad fate as they were knocked out of the Champions League round of 16 with a tough 2-1 goals on aggregate.

Sevilla lost to Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals by the same margin of 2-1, unable to handle the huge amount of pressure that Bayern exerted on them.

They couldn't break the Bayern defence down and showed tremendous determination to prevent their opponents from scoring in the second leg.

Sevilla have a very exciting attack. They have their talisman in Wissam Ben Yedder leading the line along with Luis Muriel.

Their midfield has great depth with Franco Vazquez, Joaquin Correa and Pablo Sarabria as the attacking midfielders and the rock-solid Ever Banega and Steven N'Zonzi as the holding midfielders. They also possess the hugely experienced Jesus Navas in their ranks.

The greatest advantage of Sevilla is that they are always considered as the minnows when being drawn against stronger opposition.

Their capabilities to gel in together and perform under pressure makes them very strong opponents.

Can they upset Barcelona and take away the title from them?

#3 Coutinho's claim to dominance

Barcelona v Valencia - La Liga
Coutinho has been on a roll for Barcelona ever since he joined them

Football experts around the world may claim that Phillippe Coutinho hasn't been able to replicate his Liverpool form after joining Barcelona. He has shown flashes of brilliance in the Blaugrana colours though.

But the Brazilian is a really gifted player. He could very well become the next midfield giant for Barcelona. Iniesta has slowed down and is more injury-prone than ever.

That is why the club invested a hefty sum in purchasing him, with the hope that he could become the midfield maestro of the present Barcelona team.

Coutinho's magic was on display in Barcelona win against Valencia when he slipped in an inch-perfect through ball for Suarez to score the opener.

He has assisted four goals in the last four matches for Barcelona and is finally coming back to form.

It will be interesting to see, how he pairs up with Messi. Maybe, all that Barcelona needs to win the title is a moment of genius from Coutinho.

#4 The tactical battle: Montella vs Valverde

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Two of the best tactical minds in the La Liga will battle out against each other

Sevilla's good performance this season can be attributed to the genius of Vincenzo Montella, who once converted Fiorentina into a European force to be reckoned with, during his managerial stint with the Italian club.

Montella's style of play is based more on possession football, which when combined with short-passing and through balls that split opposition defences, becomes a dangerous combination.

He has shown his tactical brilliance by using the spaces in midfield and exploiting the wings with fast wing backs.

Luis Enrique, the former manager of Barcelona relied on a quick transition of the ball from the defence to the forward line. Valverde changed that and instilled a more defensive approach to the Barcelona team.

He brought back the focus to the midfield and his capability of utilizing Lionel Messi's creative talents has made Barcelona unbeatable. They are on a record unbeaten run of 40 games in the La Liga.

It will be interesting to see who comes out on top.

#5 The completeness of Barcelona's squad

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Barcelona don't have a formidable team, but they do make a complete team

Much of the old guard of Barcelona has retired with the exception of Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Messi. However they still have a strong team in comparison to their European rivals.

In Messi, they have the ultimate playmaker who drops down deep to control the game or becomes the finisher who scores the goal, whenever the need arises.

Iniesta, Coutinho, Paulinho and Ivan Rakitic are the creative engine of the team, while Sergio Busquets still remains their vital pivot who seamlessly converts defence into attack.

In the defence they have the ever-reliable Pique, along with the young Samuel Umtiti.

Jordi Alba is an absolute master of the left wing and Nelson Semedo controls the right wing. In front of the net, they have the imposing Marc Ander Ter Stegen donning the gloves.

Upfront they have the lethal No.9 in Suarez and a young Ousmane Dembele leading the line. Denis Suarez and Sergi Roberto show a lot of promise and are flexible enough to play in multiple positions.

Could the completeness of the Barcelona team overpower the Seville creativity? Only time will tell.

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Edited by Alan John