The Squad for the first leg of Copa del Rey semi-final with Real Madrid at Camp Nou has been announced. the big surprise has to be the absence of Dembele from the squad. There were rumors of him starting, but now with him being omitted, it is safe to say that he is still not fully fit. Another potential absentee was Messi, but he makes into the list.
Check out the Squad below:
With Antonio Miguel Matéu Lahoz in charge, Barcelona not only have to worry about the Opponents but also a Referee who have purposefully hurt them more than once in the past.
The first Clasico of 2019 will be held at the Camp Nou on 6th of February, Wednesday in the First leg of this season's Copa del Rey, semi-final. This will start one of the toughest period for Barca which include three Clasico clashes in 25 days and also matches with Athletic, Valladolid, Lyon, Sevilla in between them.
And that makes it essential to start on the front foot in Wednesday's match so that we can selectively rest our crucial players. The likes of Messi, Alba, Busquets etc. have no replacement in our squad and which means that we need to prioritize matches where these stalwarts need to be taken off or even rested completely. With such a tough run of the fixture, the chances of that appear minimal.
Real Madrid, despite the hiccups have somewhat managed to get their season back on track and Barca should be wary of their threat.
The moment the announcement was made about the Clasico clash in the Copa del Rey semi-finals, there was huge excitement among Barcelona fans. It's understandable that any 'Clasico' clash will bring in a certain amount of excitement, along with a bot of worry (especially if you are a Barcelona fan). But this time around there is a bit of arrogance surrounding this, as if the result is a foregone conclusion.
It is nonsensical to consider that Real Madrid as a lightweight opponent going into this clash. They still remain one of the formidable opposition and with the second leg away from home, we should take them extremely seriously when they visit Camp Nou on Wednesday. Barcelona definitely has an upper hand, but to make that matter, Barcelona should take care of the following three factors.
