In the quarter finals of the Copa del Rey, defending champion FC Barcelona takes on Sevilla. This season the Catalans are again favorite for tournament win, but Seville is a dangerous opponent in Sanchez Pizjuan.
Seville:
Sevilla has an excellent first half of the season behind it. The Andalusians are on a creditable fourth place in La Liga, stand next to the Europa League against Lazio next month and thus face FC Barcelona in the quarterfinals of the Europa League on Wednesday-evening. Nevertheless, trainer Pablo Machin will have slept badly in recent weeks. Last weekend, his team visited Real Madrid (2-0) again its third league defeat in a row. 2019 could not have started worse for Los Nerviones.
Machin, according to many the crown prince of the Spanish trainer guild, will therefore have to find a way to awaken Sevilla from her hibernation. Losses at the Santiago Bernabeu is not a shame, of course, but the way the redwomen were led to the slaughterhouse against the plagued Real Madrid was worrying. Just Ever Banega, Franco Vazquez and Pablo Sarabia, the creatives of the team, did not give up. Fatigue may play a role, because the Andalusians already have 37 official games this season. In the rear, Machin has enough options to rotate, but in the midfield and in the attack he has relatively little quality behind him. However, a cup against FC Barcelona would give Sevilla a much needed boost. With only one defeat in the last twelve home games, Sevilla is in any case a team to take into account in Sanchez Pizjuan.
FC Barcelona:
The Copa del Rey is only in third place on the list of priorities of FC Barcelona, because winning the Champions League and La Liga are of course much more important. Nevertheless, the Catalans have done well in the Spanish cup tournament in recent years, because the last four editions were all prey for the Blaugrana. In addition, the top club was present in seven of the last eight cup finals. It is therefore only logical that the bookmakers again count on cup success for the star formation of trainer Ernesto Valverde this season.
Yet it is not just the smell of roses and moonlight at the Camp Nou, because FC Barcelona is still far too dependent on Lionel Messi. Valverde left his star last weekend outside the basic eleven, but saw his team wrestle against low fly Leganes. Only after the insertion of La Pulga did FC Barcelona make the difference and still booked a 3-1 home win. This Messidependencia is of course extremely worrying, also because there is far too little traffic from the famous Catalan youth academy. Attracting the 32-year-old striker Kevin-Prince Boateng and earlier the arrival of the 31-year-old midfielder Arturo Vidal draws in this sense the current poor state of La Masia. On the other hand, Boateng and Vidal do bring with them certain qualities that are normally less present with FC Barcelona Youth Pride. Indeed, both are refined players who do not shy away from the better hoeing.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1.49
