Preview: CD Guadalajara vs Barcelona - prediction, team news, lineups

Barcelona will be aiming to avoid a huge upset in the Copa del Rey when they tackle CD Guadalajara in the last-32 stage of the competition on Wednesday night.

The Catalan outfit are the most successful side in the history of the tournament, lifting the trophy on 32 occasions, and they are also the holders, having beaten Real Madrid in last season's final.

Match preview

Guadalajara have had to win twice to secure their spot in this round of the Copa del Rey, beating Cacereno and Ceuta, and their reward is a clash with the holders Barcelona.

Pere Marti's side will enter this match off the back of a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid B, with the result leaving them 17th in their domestic table, only managing to pick up 17 points from 16 matches during a difficult campaign to date.

Depor Guada were a fifth-tier outfit as recently as 2021-22, but they currently operate in Spain's third tier, having secured promotion from the fourth level in 2024-25.

The Purples are actually in the third round of the Copa del Rey for the first time, and it would go down as one of the most spectacular results in their history if they were able to navigate their way past the Spanish champions to reach the round of 16.

Barcelona will be in no mood to hand out any favours on Wednesday, though, with the Catalan outfit looking for more success in the Copa del Rey.

To suggest that this competition has been kind to Barcelona down the years would be an understatement, with the team lifting the trophy on 32 previous occasions, making them the most successful side in the tournament's history.

Hansi Flick's side are also the holders, beating Real Madrid in last year's final, and the visitors will enter this match in excellent form, having won seven of their last eight matches in all competitions, including a 2-0 success over Osasuna in the league on Saturday.

Barcelona are top of the La Liga table, four points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, and they will now be aiming to end 2025 with two more wins against Guadalajara and Villarreal.

It is shaping up to be a very interesting 2026 for a Barcelona side that are bidding to make it back-to-back La Liga titles, while the Catalan team simply cannot be ignored in the Champions League due to their incredible quality in the final third of the field.

CD Guadalajara Copa del Rey form:

CD Guadalajara form (all competitions):

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Barcelona form (all competitions):

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Team News

Guadalajara have not reported any fresh injury issues ahead of this match, while they also do not have any suspension concerns, so the hosts will have a strong squad on Wednesday.

Pablo Munoz is set to be a notable starter in the final third of the field - the 22-year-old has scored three times and registered two assists during the current season.

Alejandro Canizo is also expected to feature in an attacking area, while there is also set to be a spot in the middle of midfield for the experienced Pablo Rojo.

As for Barcelona, Ronald Araujo (personal), Gavi (knee) and Dani Olmo (shoulder) remain unavailable for selection, but Wojciech Szczesny has recovered from the illness that forced him to miss out against Osasuna last time out.

Szczesny is likely to be given the nod over Marc-Andre ter Stegen between the sticks, and head coach Flick is preparing to make multiple changes for this match.

Andreas Christensen, Jofre Torrents, Marc Casado, Marc Bernal, Roony Bardghji and Dro Fernandez could all come in for starts, while there could be a spot at centre-forward for Robert Lewandowski, who was an unused substitute last time out.

CD Guadalajara possible starting lineup:

Vicente; Mayo, Ablanque, Rodriguez, Casado; Rojo, Calvo; Diaz, Ramirez, Munoz; Canizo

Barcelona possible starting lineup:

Szczesny; E Garcia, Cubarsi, Christensen, Jofre; Casado, Bernal; Bardghji, Fermin, Dro; Lewandowski

We say: CD Guadalajara 0-4 Barcelona

This is a very, very tough match for Guadalajara; Barcelona boss Flick will make wholesale changes, but we are still expecting the Catalan outfit to be far too strong for their opponents.