After sharing the spoils with RCD Espanyol in La Liga over the weekend, FC Barcelona now turn their attention to the Domestic cup competition, as they travel to the Valencian community to take on Third tier club CF Intercity in the Copa Del Rey round of 32 matchup.
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Table of contents
Overview
After getting eliminated by Athletic Bilbao rather unceremoniously in the round of 16 last year ( 3-2 ) ,FC Barcelona enter this year’s competition with the ambition of winning the Copa Del Rey trophy for the 32nd time.
CF Intercity feature 8 players with Barcelona roots and they will be looking to make a statement against their parent club, so it’s going to be an interesting fixture that the culers should be excited of.
Squad List
Once again Xavi has a fully fit squad without any injuries (fingers crossed) to choose from, just like the earlier game. Gavi, who suffered a minor knock to the back against RCD Espanyol has fully recovered as Xavi confirmed earlier in the press conference that the youngster is alright to play .
Xavi will look to make significant rotations for this match as an important tie against Atletico Madrid awaits in La Liga on Sunday.
The likes of Frank Kessie , Pablo Torre, Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay could feature in the starting lineup as these players did not feature in the weekend derby.
Predicted Lineup
Defence
Backup keeper Inaki Pena was registered in the 1st team and will start against CF Intercity according to various reports from Spain. Ronald Araujo will start as Xavi confirmed it in the press conference. Eric Garcia has a high chance of getting into the starting XI alongside Araujo to form the center back pair.
Jordi Alba and Hector Bellerin will form the fullback partnership as Alba is suspended for the Atletico match and Barcelona wont risk Balde for this fixture as he is the only natural fullback available for the Atletico clash.
Midfield
Captain Sergio Busquests , Frank Kessie and Pablo Torre will be the expected midfield as Xavi hinted at the press conference by saying “Pablo (Torre) will get valuable minutes tomorrow.”
Attack
Memphis Depay is expected to start as Xavi expects Lewandowski to be rested and fully fit for the Atletico clash. In the wings, Ansu fati is tipped to feature alongside Ousmane Dembele, whose pace and dribbling could be effective against the 3rd tier club.
Drop your score predictions in the comment section down below 🙂
