COPA DEL REY PREVIEW: BARCELONA VS REAL MADRID

It's the fifth(!) Clasico of the season. And a very crucial one at that, again. Who wins this?

Once again, The biggest rivalry in club football is upon us. We're truly fortunate to witness FIVE clasicos this season across three competitions. The scoreline reads 

3-1 in favour of Barcelona already, it's the second leg of the Copa del Rey Semi finals, a game that'll decide who faces Osasuna in the final at La Cartuja, Seville. As if both teams didn't have enough reason to win this game already.

Barcelona have had the upper hand in recent times, coming on top in the first leg at the Bernabeu by a slender 1-0 win, followed by a 2-1 win at the Camp Nou in La Liga which saw them move 12 points clear of Real Madrid in second place.

Both teams recorded impressive wins at the weekend going into this game: Barça saw off Elche in a 4-0 thrashing while Real Madrid thumped Real Valladolid 6-0. Positive feeling all around. And now they're both back at the Camp Nou. Who moves on and who gives in?

INTERESTING STATS

- Real Madrid have won 101 while Barcelona have won 100 out of the 253 matches played between the two teams.

- Real Madrid have lost their last three matches against Barcelona, all three defeats have come in 2023.

- Los Blancos have already lost three of their 11 matches in La Liga in 2023. They had suffered just four defeats in the entire 2022.

- Barcelona are on a five-match winning streak in all competitions.

- The Catalan giants have won five out of their last six matches against Real Madrid in all competitions.

TEAM NEWS

Barcelona

The Catalans will still have to make do without Ousmane Dembele, Pedri, Andreas Christensen and now, Frenkie DeJong. It makes the job a bit more difficult, but not impossible.

The team basically picks itself, sort of. Marc Andre TerStegen in goal, Araujo, Koundé, Alonso and  Balde in defense. Things get interesting from there. If it's a four-man midfield, we should see Gavi, Busquets, Kessie and Roberto. A three-man midfield will sacrifice one of the latter two for Ansu Fati, while Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha round up the attack.

Real Madrid

Ferland Mendy is ruled out with another injury relapse, while Antonio Rudiger remains a doubt, even though he made the squad list. Ancelotti will want to pull up a surprise in his starting XI and tactics, given how he's been dominated in the last 3 clasicos.

Courtois, Militao and Alaba are sure to start. The fullback positions will be filled by two of Carvajal, Vasquez, Camavinga and Nacho. Modric, Kroos, Tchouameni and Valverde will likely make the starting XI.

After a sublime hattrick in the weekend, Benzema is sure to line up alongside Vinicius Jr. Marco Asensio and Rodrygo have made strong cases to start as well.

Where and when are Barcelona vs Real Madrid playing?

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Stadium: Camp Nou

Date: Wednesday 5 April

Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 EST / 12:00 PST

Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera

VAR: Jose Luis González González

As with other versions of the ever grand El Clasico, this game is too close to call. One thing that's for sure: maximum entertainment. It's the last Clasico of the season. Hopefully it'll be the best one yet.

LA LIGA PREVIEW: ELCHE VS BARCELONA

La Liga is back! On the eve of Palm Sunday, Barcelona visit Elche in search of more good vibes.

After defeating Real Madrid yet again, this time in the league, Barcelona are now 12 points clear at the top. It'll probably take a disaster in the form of a meteor shower to prevent them from winning the league title at this point. Confidence is high and the team are looking to complete the domestic treble, which will be an insane achievement, considering where they were the last couple of years. After what feels like forever, there's reason to believe in Barcelona again.

The same can't be said for their hosts, Elche, who are all but sure to drop to Segunda Division next season after a disastrous campaign. They're currently on their fourth manager this season, which tells you the level of instability they've been dealing with. 13 points so far the season, they are firmly rooted at the bottom of the table and will likely finish there. This game is all about them giving a good account of themselves against the best possible opponent, which will serve as a bit of a morale booster.

INTERESTING STATS 

- We have to go all the way back to 1974 to find the last occasion Elche that managed to beat Barça, when Rinus Michels was on the blaugrana bench and Johan Cruyff was still playing.

- In fact, in a run dating back to 1984, Elche failed to score a single goal in ten games against Barça, which was the Catalans’ longest ever run without conceding against the same team. That run ended last season.

- Barcelona are the second-highest-scoring team in the league with 49 goals to their name.

- Elche have the worst defensive record in the league having conceded 51 goals.

Barcelona have the best defensive record in the league. They have conceded just 9 goals all season long.

- Elche have won just two matches in the entire season. Every other team in the division have won more than five matches.

- Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski has 20 goal contributions in the league.

Last five meetings 

17/09/22  Barça 3 (Lewandowski 2,                               Memphis) Elche 0

06/03/22  Elche 1 Barça 2 (Torres,                                 Memphis)

18/12/21  Barça 3 (Jutglà, Gavi, Nico)                           Elche 2

24/02/21  Barça 3 Elche 0 (Messi 2, Alba)

24/01/21 Elche 0 Barça 2 (De Jong, Puig)

TEAM NEWS

Elche

Pablo Machin was sacked after the loss to Real Sociedad before the international break and replaced by Argentinian Sebastián Beccacece, a long time assist of Jorge Sampaoli. No one will envy Sebastián in his position right now.

Elche will be missing both Pape Cheikh and Lucas Boye through suspension this weekend, while Lisandro Magallan, Enzo Roco, Alex Collado and John Donald are on the sidelines through injury. Elche do have a major boost as their leading goalscorer in the league this season (6) Pere Milla is available for this fixture.

Machin is expected to go ahead with the 3-4-3 formation which will act like the 5-3-2 for the majority of the match given the amount of ball possession the visitors are expected to have. Edgar Badia will start in goal while Helibelton Palacios, Gonzalo Verdu and Diego Gonzalez will be the back three.

Carlos Clerc and Tete Morente will play the role of wing-backs as they will start in the midfield four alongside former Barça player Gerard Gumbau and Omar Mascarell. Ezequiel Ponce and Fidel Chaves will start out wide as the wingers. Meanwhile, Pere Milla will be leading the attack for the home team.

Barcelona

The visitors will be without the services of Ousmane Dembele, Frenkie de Jong, Andreas Christensen and Pedri through injuries. Raphinha misses through suspension. Ronald Araujo has been given the green light to be a part of the squad but is unlikely to start due to the upcoming El Clasico. 

 Marc-Andre ter Stegen will be in goal. 

Jordi Alba and Marcos Alonso have a chance to return to the staring XI, with Koundé moving back to CB position and Sergi Roberto starting as RB. Sergio Busquets will once again start as the holding midfielder, while Franck Kessie and Gavi will be in his support. 

Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati are more than likely to start, both with a point to prove. Robert Lewandowski will lead the attack as he looks to break his current drought in front of goal.

We could see some debuts as well, in the form of Garrido and Estanis. Torre, Alarcón and Casadó could also feature.

Where and when are Elche vs Barcelona playing?

Location: Elche, Spain

Stadium: Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero

Date: Saturday 1 April

Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PST, 21:00 🇳🇬

Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande

What a mismatch, eh? 55 points separate the two teams, the largest gap between first and last at this stage of the season in La Liga History. That says it all about who's the favorite to win this one, even with injuries to key players.