Barcelona vs Real Madrid

Spotify Camp Nou forms the backdrop for the second leg of a mouth-watering Copa del Rey semi-final tie between eternal rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid.

In addition to being on the verge of dethroning Real Madrid as La Liga champions after last weekend’s 4-0 demolition of basement boys Elche maintained their massive 12-point lead at the summit, Barcelona could add insult to injury by ousting arch-rivals from Copa del Rey. A narrow 1-0 win in the first leg in Madrid means the ‘Blaugrana’ already have one foot in the final, and their flawless three-game H2H record in 2023 (W3) gives Xavi Hernandez’s side more reason for optimism. Barcelona came from behind to beat Madrid 2-1 in La Liga’s top-table six-pointer on the eve of the international break, extending their unbeaten home run in all competitions to nine games (W7, D2). Moreover, Xavi’s men head into this clash on the back of five straight wins, four of which came ‘to nil.’

On the other hand, Real Madrid bounced back from the El Clasico heartbreak with an overwhelming 6-0 home league win over Real Valladolid at the weekend. However, playing on hostile turf has recently been an unpleasant experience for ‘Los Blancos’ as they hope to avoid going three straight away matches without a win (D1, L1). Achieving that feat would see Carlo Ancelotti’s side level up the all-time competitive H2H at 101 victories apiece. On a more positive note, ‘Los Merengues’ have won both Copa del Rey assignments on the road this season via a single-goal margin, which would be enough to take this tie into extra-time. That could be a good omen, as they’ve won the last four H2Hs that required additional playing time.