Familiar El Clasico foes Barcelona and Real Madrid meet for the fifth time this season in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final at Camp Nou on Wednesday evening.
La Blaugrana came away from the Santiago Bernabeu with a 1-0 first-leg lead last month, and either Osasuna or Athletic Bilbao will await the aggregate victors in the trophy match.
Match preview
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So often the hero for Real Madrid in the defensive third, Eder Militao was the villain for Los Blancos during the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi, as the Brazilian's own goal allowed Barcelona to put one foot firmly in this year's final during their search for a domestic double.
While another early European exit will go down as a major blot on the notebook, Xavi's side have responded exactly how La Liga champions-elect should, and the Blaugrana are inching closer to the top-flight title by the week.
A meeting with a hapless Elche side staring down the barrel of relegation only ever had one outcome, and Barcelona showed no mercy to their hosts on Saturday, storming to a 4-0 win thanks to Robert Lewandowski's brace alongside strikes from Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres.
Retaining a 12-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga standings, Barcelona temporarily take a break from the title run-in as they bid to reach the Copa del Rey final for the eighth time in 10 seasons, and not since the 2006-07 campaign have they been eliminated from the semi-finals after winning the first leg.
The 4-0 thrashing of Elche marked Barcelona's fifth win in succession across all tournaments - during which time they have conceded just the one goal - and only Bayern Munich have got the better of the Catalonian colossi at Camp Nou this season.
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Since being humbled 3-0 by Bayern, Barcelona have embarked on a nine-game unbeaten run in front of their own fans, with their most recent victory in that sequence coming against none other than Real Madrid, who did earn the weekend's bragging rights when it came to high-scoring affairs.
After Rodrygo had drawn first blood against Real Valladolid, Karim Benzema took all of seven minutes to net a hat-trick during a first-half demolition job, before Marco Asensio and Lucas Vazquez completed the rout in the second 45.
An emphatic 6-0 win has done little to help Real's prospects of retaining their domestic crown, though, and Carlo Ancelotti's side can be forgiven for already having one eye on their Champions League quarter-final showdown with Chelsea, especially in the wake of Graham Potter's sacking.
While Barcelona have been regular attendees at the Copa del Rey final, Real Madrid have failed to reach the showpiece event since the 2013-14 season - where they beat La Blaugrana in the final - and a two-game winless run on the road will hardly do that streak the world of good.
From their four showdowns in the 2022-23 season so far, Barcelona have come up trumps three times against Real Madrid - who won the first meeting 3-1 at the Bernabeu back in October - and a 2-1 success over the reigning Spanish champions just before the international break was the hosts' 100th win against their Clasico adversaries.
Team News
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Barcelona came through their win over Elche without any fresh injury concerns to take into account, but all of Pedri (hamstring), Ousmane Dembele (hamstring), Frenkie de Jong (hamstring) and Andreas Christensen (calf) were absent from that contest.
None of the quartet was seen in training on Sunday, so Xavi will likely be forced to cope without each member for the second leg, while Raphinha is back from a ban served in the top flight but is hardly guaranteed to displace Torres or Fati.
The latter's telling contribution at the weekend came after an explosive rant from his father, who hit out at the attacker's lack of game time during the current campaign amid links with a transfer away this summer, but he has likely played his way into a start in El Clasico.
As for Real Madrid, Ancelotti is sweating on the fitness of Antonio Rudiger after the German centre-back missed the win over Valladolid with knee discomfort - he will be sent for scans on Monday, but Ancelotti does not believe that the defender is nursing anything serious.
Either way, Rudiger's condition will be closely monitored over the next 48 hours, while Ferland Mendy is sure to miss out with a fresh calf problem, and Mariano Diaz has also emerged as a doubt with an unspecified complaint but was never going to start here.
On a brighter defensive note, Nacho Fernandez has served a La Liga suspension and could cover for Rudiger if need be, while Vinicius Junior was cautioned for the third time in the current Copa del Rey campaign in the first leg, but all yellow cards reset upon completion of the quarter-finals, so the attacker is available here.
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Alonso, Balde; Kessie, Busquets, Gavi; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Fati
Real Madrid possible starting lineup:
Courtois; Vazquez, Militao, Nacho, Alaba; Kroos, Tchouameni, Modric; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius Jr
We say: Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid (Barcelona win 2-1 on aggregate)
Having already locked horns on four occasions this season, both managers will be all-too familiar with the other's gameplan, and a raft of injuries could deny Barcelona a fourth successive El Clasico triumph this week.
However, Xavi's side have become an extremely tough nut to crack defensively, and Real's ruthless rout of Valladolid may not count for much at the Camp Nou fortress, so Barcelona can grind out the draw required to advance to the final and keep their hopes of a La Liga and Copa del Rey double alive.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
