- 1M. ter Stegen
- 18Jordi Alba
- 15C. Lenglet
- 3Gerard Pique
- 2Nélson Semedo
- 8Arthur
- 5Sergio Busquets
- 4I. Rakitić
- 7Philippe Coutinho
- 9Luis Suárez
- 14Malcom
- 21Carles Aleñà
- 22Arturo Vidal
- 10Lionel Messi
- 30Pena, Inaki
- 17J. Murillo
- 19K. Boateng
- 20Sergi Roberto
- 1Keilor Navas
- 12Marcelo
- 4Sergio Ramos
- 5R. Varane
- 2Dani Carvajal
- 8T. Kroos
- 18Marcos Llorente
- 10L. Modrić
- 17Lucas Vazquez
- 28Vinicius Junior
- 9K. Benzema
- 14Casemiro
- 20Marco Asensio
- 11G. Bale
- 25T. Courtois
- 6Nacho
- 22Isco
- 24Dani Ceballos
The two giants of Spanish football this Wednesday commence an intense period that will see Barcelona and Real Madrid meet three times in less than a month. The first match is the Copa del Rey Semi-Final 1st Leg at Camp Nou as the Catalan giants aim to win the competition for the fifth straight year.
Barcelona had dropped points the previous day with Valencia showing Real Madrid just how you can get at Ernesto Valverde’s side. Los Che posed big problems on the break for Barca and left Camp Nou with a 2-2 draw. There had been talk amongst senior figures at Barcelona that they’d be better off almost sacrificing the Copa del Rey this season but having been paired with Real Madrid, they’ve little but to choice to go all-out for the cup now and the manner of their 6-1 comeback win in last week’s Quarter-Final 2nd Leg against Sevilla suggests they are certainly in the mood for another domestic double.
Since the turn of the year, Barcelona have actually created fewer Expected Goals than their opponents in 5 of their 9 matches. That’s also a clear sign that things aren’t quite ticking perfectly for the Catalans and with Los Blancos coming into form and actually boasting a decent recent record on this ground before their mauling earlier in the season, backing Real Madrid Double Chance appeals.