Barcelona will be bidding to avoid what would be one of the biggest shocks in the history of the Copa del Rey when they take on fourth-tier outfit Barbastro in the last-32 stage of the 2024-25 tournament on Saturday evening.
The Catalan giants are the most successful Copa del Rey side of all time, winning the competition on 31 occasions, while Barbastro will be aiming to secure their spot in the round of 16 for the first time in their history.
Match preview
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Barbastro managed to reach the last-32 stage of last season's Copa del Rey for the first time, and they have repeated that this term but will be looking to go one better, with the hosts eyeing what would be a sensational result.
Dani Martinez's side play their league football in Spain's fourth tier, having earned promotion from the fifth tier in 2022-23, and they are currently 16th in their domestic table, boasting 17 points from 17 matches.
The hosts will actually bring a four-game unbeaten run into this match, including a 2-0 success over Ejea in their last game before the international break, while they have already claimed a huge scalp in the Copa del Rey this term.
Indeed, after beating Amorebieta 4-0 in the first round, they recorded a 2-0 victory over Espanyol, so Barbastro will be bidding to make it back-to-back successes over Catalan teams playing in the top flight of Spanish football.
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Barcelona, meanwhile, entered the winter break on a disappointing note, having suffered back-to-back home defeats to Leganes and Atletico Madrid, which has contributed to them dropping into third spot in the La Liga table.
Not too long ago, it appeared that Hansi Flick's side would run away with the league title this term, but they are now three points behind leaders Atletico, who have a game in hand, so there is plenty of work for the Catalan giants to do.
Barcelona are second in the overall Champions League table, though, picking up 15 points from six matches, with only Liverpool performing better in this season's competition, so it has been a solid first half of the campaign.
Blaugrana are the most successful side in the history of the Copa del Rey, lifting the famous trophy on 31 occasions, but they have not won the title since 2020-21, being eliminated in the last-16, semi-finals and quarter-finals in the last three seasons.
Barcelona's attention will quickly switch to the Spanish Super Cup after this match, with Flick's team taking on Athletic Bilbao in the semi-finals of the tournament on January 8 ahead of a possible final against either Real Madrid or Mallorca.
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Team News
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Andres Barrera is having a brilliant season as the left-sided wing-back for Barbastro, scoring seven times and registering two assists in 18 appearances, and he will be a notable starter for the home side in this contest.
Marc Prat has come up with three goals and one assist in 18 appearances, meanwhile, and he is also in line to start, while there should also be spots in the final third of the field for Javier Albin and Ander El Haddadi.
As for Barcelona, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Lamine Yamal remain on the sidelines, but the latter is not too far away from returning from an ankle injury.
The fact that this match comes after a winter break could mean that Flick selects an XI stronger than he might have done under different circumstances, but there will still be wholesale changes from the clash with Atletico.
There may be a debut between the sticks for Wojciech Szczesny, while Ronald Araujo is in line to make his first appearance of the campaign after recovering from a long-term hamstring problem.
However, Dani Olmo and Pau Victor are not currently registered for Barcelona, so the pair will be unavailable.
Barbastro possible starting lineup:
Fabrega; I Garcia, Arroyo, Santigosa; Bautista, Javito, Jaime, Barrera; El Haddadi, Prat, Albin
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, E Garcia, Martin; De Jong, Torre; Fati, Gavi, F Lopez; Torres
We say: Barbastro 0-3 Barcelona
Barcelona will not be at full strength on Saturday, and the Catalan outfit will enter the clash off the back of successive defeats, but we are struggling to see anything other than a comfortable success for the visitors in this Copa del Rey contest.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
