Following last month’s 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu, FC
Barcelona
are favourites to secure their place in the final of the Copa del Rey
for a second successive season; although they still have to do the
business in the second-leg of their tie with
Real Madrid.
Los Blancos have been struggling for consistency all season, but in
spite of that, they have managed to contest each and every Clasico to a
high standard; today's clash is unlikely to be any different.
After scoring in six consecutive Clasicos, Barcelona finally managed to stop
Cristiano Ronaldo
from tormenting their back-four in the first-leg, only to be undone by
some shoddy defending after a routine cross. Raphael Varane got the goal
that night, and he scooped the Man of the Match award to thanks to a
number of crucial last-ditch interventions. Who knows? Without Varane’s
excellent defensive work, maybe
Lionel Messi would have broken the all-time record for goals scored in the Clasico?
Anyway, enough about
the first-leg.What can we expect from the second leg today?Barcelona head into the match off Saturday’s comeback
victory over
Sevilla where
David Villa announced his return from kidney stones with a nice header. El Guaje adds
another dimension to the Blaugrana attack and he also creates space for
Lionel Messi. Now, you don’t need to be a math genius to figure out that
Messi + space = goals.
On the other hand, does Barcelona really need to
start Villa? How will Jose Mourinho approach the match? So many
questions, luckily, we have less than a day to wait for answers.
Barcelona assistant coach Jordi Roura has questioned referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco.
Roura pointed out that Undiano, appointed for tonight's Copa del Rey second-leg clash with
Real Madrid,
had taken charge of Barca's only league defeat this season - when Gerard Pique was sent off in a 3-2 defeat to
Real Sociedad in January - and also recalled his stewardship of the 2011 Copa del Rey final, won 1-0 by
Real Madrid in extra-time.
"It is evident that with Undiano our numbers are always worse than with
others," Roura said. "And we keep in mind his permissiveness in that
Copa final.
Real Madrid boss
Jose Mourinho dismissed complaints about the referee for tonight's Copa clash by having a fresh dig at
Barcelona's past El Clasico behaviour.
Barca are unhappy with the appointment of Alberto Undiano for the second-leg of tonight's Copa tie at the Nou Camp.
But Mourinho scoffed: "I prefer to stick with the lessons we have received in the past from
Barcelona.
Lessons in sportsmanship, how to behave in football. Not talking about
the referees, not surrounding them, not demanding cards for their
opponents. No cheating.
"And, of course, lessons on how to play football, they do that very well. We must 'humbly' follow that line."
Cesc Fabregas believes had Barcelona the chance to make it 0-2 in Madrid [on the away leg].
''In the return leg we have to be as effective as possible, because they are very effective. We have to be on target in front of goal if we want to get to the final.”
The midfielder went on to indicate that
“it’s vital to score, we cannot go into the match and wait to see what happens.
In last year’s Cup Clásico return leg - we had a good result from the
away leg - and we were nearly eliminated from the competition.
Madrid are very dangerous and in order to go through we’ll have to play the best.
Hardworking defender Pepe believes Madrid will win if they play as a unit in Nou Camp tonight.
“We have to play as a team, like we always try to do in every match.If we play as a
team we’ll definitely have a good chance of winning the playoff. We
have to remain true to our style of play and do what coach Mourinho asks
and we’ll have a good chance of winning the playoff,”Pepe said.
The last time that Real Madrid and Barcelona faced each other in the Copa
del Rey semifinals was in 1993. Curiously enough, the first-leg match
was played at the Santiago Bernabeu and also ended 1-1. The Whites later
won 1-2 at the Camp Nou, qualifying for the final. In total, the two
teams have faced each other five times in the penultimate round of the
competition with the Whites winning on three occasions. In this edition
Mourinho's team find themselves among the four top teams after defeating
Alcoyano, Celta and Valencia in previous rounds.
Barcelona remains undefeated in the competition, hosting Real Madrid
after having defeated Alaves, Cordoba and Malaga. They won the two
matches against the Basque side (0-3 and 3-1) and also against Cordoba
(0-2 and 5-0). The had a tougher time with Malaga (2-2 in the first-leg
match at the Camp Nou and 2-4 at La Rosaleda). Villa and Messi are
Barcelona's top goal-scorers in the tournament with five and four goals
respectively.
Expert Edge:With Manchester United match also in mind,Real Madrid will be hoping to get something from this cracker in the dreaded Nou Camp.On the part of Barcelona,they will be hoping to consolidate on the win against Sevilla.
Messi and Ronaldo are capable of deciding the final outcome of the match today.
On a final note Real Madrid should progress at the expense of Barcelona tonight.
