Barcelona’s journey towards potential Copa del Rey glory continues with a trip to face minnows Barbastro.
The home side currently play in the fourth tier of Spanish football, specifically in the Segunda Federacion – Group 2. This is not the first La Liga side that they have faced in the competition so far, having knocked Almeria out in the previous round to set up this tie.
Barcelona only narrowly beat Las Palmas in their midweek league fixture and it is fair to say that they are now outsiders to defend their title, so the last thing that Xavi needs is a surprising exit in the Copa del Rey to make people even more disgruntled.
Here is all that you need to know about Barbastro vs Barcelona in the Copa del Rey.
Barbastro vs Barcelona H2H Record
This is the first competitive meeting between Barbastro and Barcelona.
Current Form (All Competitions)
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Naturally, Barbastro are expected to name the same team that led them to victory against Almeria in the previous round of the tournament.
The top scorer is Adria de Mesa with four goals, so he will certainly be leading the line and he is likely to have Oscar Gonpi and Hugo Bautista offering him support throughout the game.
Barbastro predicted lineup vs Barcelona (4-3-3): Fabrega; Val, Mingotes, Jaime, Carbonell; Javito, Rausell, I Garcia; Bautista, De Mesa, Gonpi.
Barcelona did not escape the Canary Islands unscathed as Joao Cancelo suffered an injury which, although initially feared to be serious, may not actually keep him on the sidelines for too long. He joins Pedri, Marcos Alonso, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Gavi on the sidelines. Inigo Martinez is also likely to be left out so as to not aggravate his muscle injury before the Supercopa.
There is a good chance of full debuts here for Hector Fort and new boy Vitor Roque, the latter coming off of the bench against Las Palmas in what was his first-ever Barcelona appearance.
Barcelona predicted lineup vs Barbastro (4-3-3): Pena; Fort, Christensen, Kounde, Balde; Fermin, Romeu, Roberto; Yamal, Roque, Felix.
Barcelona are of course the overwhelming favourites to win this match and get into the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey, but Xavi’s side are not exactly convincing anyone right now. It would be typical of this modern Barcelona to make a bit of a meal of this.
They will win, but don’t be surprised if it takes a while to make the breakthrough or if Barbastro threaten an upset at some point in the contest.
Prediction: Barbastro 1-3 Barcelona
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