Copa Del Rey Match Preview: Barcelona vs Real Madrid

Venue: Camp Nou

Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallecano

Kick-off time: 1:30 pm (IST)

Barcelona welcome fellow giants Real Madrid at the Camp Nou for their Copa Dey Rey second leg semi-final clash.The two historic sides played out a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu, and tonight’s game will be a battlefield, with each team trying their best to outwit the other. Barcelona have a slight advantage as they have scored one goal at Madrid’s stadium, via a Fabregas strike. Barcelona lost their Champions League match 2-0 against Milan, and then bounced back from the upset defeat with a 2-1 victory over Sevilla in La Liga.

Their performances under assistant manager Jordi Roura have not been that impressive, and this minor defect in the Barca squad could be enough for Mourino’s boys to conquer the Catalans. Four time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi is on the verge of breaking a new record, and will equalise Alfredo Di Stefano’s record of 18 goals in Barcelona vs Madrid matches if he scores tonight.

Player	League	Cup	Super Cup	Europe	Total
Leo Messi	10	0	5	2	17
Alfredo Di Stéfano	14	2	0	2	18

Barcelona

Recent form: DWWLW

The Catalan giants are definitely favourites to beat arch-rivals Real Madrid, as they will be playing at Camp Nou, Barca’s home ground. Sometimes, the occasional slip-up is good, as it gives them a chance to introspect and find out where they went wrong, and how they can overcome it. In defence, Dani Alves and Jordi Alba will operate at right-back and left-back, respectively.

Puyol and Pique will form the central defensive partnership. Adriano is sidelined with a hamstring injury, and won’t be playing. Coming to midfield, Sergio Busquets will start alongside Xavi and Fabregas. Sergio Busquets is a defensive midfielder, who can easily snuff out the danger. The Spaniard has excellent positional sense, is tactically astute and makes clean tackles. Barca’s “prodigal son” Fabregas is expected to play alongside Xavi tonight. World Player of the Year Messi will join Iniesta and Pedro in the attack.

“Games against Real Madrid are always tough, they are a big team with great players. They have to score and it’s possible they will be pressurising us high up the pitch.”

- Jordi Roura, Barcelona assistant manager

Real Madrid

Recent form: LWDWW

Mourinho’s boys will be confident of their chances of beating Barcelona tonight. The Barca defenders will will find it tough to stop the likes of Ronaldo, Benzema and Di Maria. Diego Lopez will start in place of the injured Casillas. Not much fair play will be expected from Mourinho’s side, with Pepe expected to take up the responsibility of shutting down Barcelona’s counter attacks with his strong tackling. Khedira, Alonso and Ozil will join him in midfield to provide the strikers with fodder.

Possible lineups:

Barcelona: Valdes; Alves, Pique, Puyol, Alba; Xavi, Busquets, Fabregas; Iniesta, Messi, Pedro

Real Madrid: Lopez; Arbeloa, Ramos, Pepe, Coentrao; Khedira, Alonso; Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo; Benzema

Predicted Score: Barcelona 2-1 Real Madrid (3-2 on aggregate)