What: Copa del Rey Quarter-final (second leg)
Who: Barcelona (2) vs Real Madrid (1) (first leg score in brackets)
When: Wednesday 25th January, 2012, at 21:00 UK time
Where: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain


High-Flying

Nobody can break Real Madrid’s determination the way Barcelona do. The Catalans eventually saw off their hosts a week ago at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg clash of their Copa del Rey encounter with a 2-1 win, and prepared in admirable fashion for the second game with an impressive 4-1 away dismantling of Malaga, a stark showing from their poor form on the road earlier this season. Now, Barcelona will be looking to get the job done at the Camp Nou.

Los Cules do not appear to be relinquishing their stance as the world’s best side any time soon, and their dominance has largely been down to coach Josep Guardiola, according to central defender Gerard Pique.

“Ever since he [Guardiola] came back to the club, he has kept us at the very top thanks to the way he sees football and the way he motivates us”, said the Spaniard. “We won virtually everything last year, which makes me very proud and satisfied.”

Should Barcelona emerge victorious at the end of this match, then the chances are the Catalans will be cup winners, given the way these two giants dominated the game in Spain in recent times.

First Time for Everything

Just in the space of a week, Real Madrid went from praised league leaders to whistled cowards, as they crumbled against Barcelona in a similar fashion to when the two met a month ago in December. On the brink of losing their Copa del Rey title, Jose Mourinho needs to dig deep inside his hat of tricks to pull off a surprise at the Camp Nou and hit one back at his detractors. For now, that does not look like happening anytime soon.

The Portuguese tactician was met with jeers for the first time in his Real Madrid journey by his own supporters, as his team graced the pitch against Athletic Bilbao at the weekend, due to his ultra-defensive tactics against Barcelona and his constant failure to usurp his club’s bitter rivals.

Speaking after the 4-1 win over the Basques, Mourinho shrugged off this incident, saying that players bigger than him received the same treatment.

“There is no problem. It did not happen to me at Porto, Chelsea or Inter, but there is always a first time for everything. Here, [Zinedine] Zidane was whistled, as were Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo. So why would I not be whistled?”

Recent form

Barcelona:
Barcelona 4-2 Real Betis (15/01; La Liga)
Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona (18/01; Copa del Rey)
Malaga 1-4 Barcelona (22/01; La Liga)

Real Madrid:
Mallorca 1-2 Real Madrid (14/01; La Liga)
Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona (18/01; Copa del Rey)
Real Madrid 4-1 Athletic Bilbao (22/01; La Liga)


Key absences

Barcelona: Seydou Keita; Andreu Fontas; David Villa; Ibrahim Afellay

Real Madrid: Sami Khedira; Angel di Maria


Players to watch

Barcelona – Lionel Messi: The Argentine continues to produce moments of brilliance with his side, scoring a hat-trick against Malaga at the weekend after providing Eric Abidal’s winner against Real Madrid. Should he be on his day, then Los Blancos hold no chance of a mounting a comeback.

Real Madrid – Cristiano Ronaldo: Ronaldo opened the scoring in the first leg, but drifted out as Barcelona came out on top. He did respond with two well-taken penalties against Athletic Bilbao, but the Portuguese now faces another test and must carry his team when they need him most.

Match Prediction

It is almost impossible for the home side to lose at the Camp Nou, meaning that Real Madrid are likely to concede their crown on the night. Barcelona appear to have turned the tide in their favour and should come out on top. Expect another 2-1 scoreline.

 


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