In the eighth finals of the Copa del Rey, FC Barcelona will be visited by Leganes on Thursday evening in its own Camp Nou. The Catalans yearn for a convincing victory, but the visitors from Madrid have been doing very well the last few weeks!
FC Barcelona:
The appointment of Cruyff idolate coach Quique Setien at FC Barcelona initially seemed like a match made in heaven, but for the time being the Catalans are struggling with the same problems as under predecessor Ernesto Valverde. Against Granada (1-0) and Ibiza (1-2) the red-blue were still scared, but last weekend things went wrong with a 2-0 defeat against Valencia. FC Barcelona therefore yearns for a series of convincing victories, in order to nip a potential crisis in the bud.
At the time of writing, Setien has not yet announced his match selection, but it is expected that he will bring a strong team. All eyes will of course be on Messi, who is still indispensable even under Setien. Against Valencia, the Argentinian took no less than eleven of the fourteen Catalan goal attempts, but he was unable to make the net go round. The lesser form of La Pulga is mainly due to the injury of Luis Suarez, with whom he finds it excellent both inside and outside the field. Between him and Antoine Griezmann, that chemistry is considerably less.
Leganes:
Leganes is also busy with a difficult season. The Madrilenians are in penultimate place in LaLiga and must therefore fear relegation. In addition, the blue and white were recently robbed of their Moroccan star player Youssef En-Nesyri, who now defends the colors of Seville.
Despite all the setbacks, Leganes is working on a strong series with only one defeat in her last nine games. With the appointment of Mexican trainer Javier Aguirre, confidence and fighting spirit are back again, with the handsome 0-0 tie last weekend in the derby against Atletico Madrid as the most recent achievement. It is obvious, however, that Aguirre will rotate a bit on Thursday evening, in order to keep its key players fresh for the important home game against Real Sociedad this coming Sunday afternoon. However, Leganes’ tactics will remain the same. Los Pepineros does not have to have a velvet technique and frivolous highlights, but will also keep a lot of players behind in the Camp Nou. In no fewer than four of their six final official competitions, the blue and white managed to keep their goal clean.
PREDICTION: Over 2,5 goals @ 1,45
