Intercity vs Barcelona

La Liga leaders Barcelona take a trip to the Camp Municipal Antonio Solana to meet Intercity in a seemingly routine Copa del Rey task.

It’ll take something out of this world to help third-tier Intercity stand a chance against more heavily fancied Barcelona despite easing past Segunda Division outfit Mirandes 2-0 in the last Copa del Rey round. Consistency has not been Intercity’s strong suit by any means, as none of their four competitive matches in the lead-up to this contest have repeated the same outcome twice in a row (W2, D1, L1). Since ousting lower-league Cirbornero 2-1 in the inaugural Copa del Rey round in October, they have picked up a measly two wins across their subsequent seven games in all competitions (D3, L2), casting further doubt on their ability to avoid a ‘blowout’ here.

However, Barcelona won’t take the field in a buoyant mood after being held to a dramatic 1-1 home draw to city rivals Espanyol at the weekend in a match featuring three red cards! Having been knocked down from a four-match winning streak in all competitions, the ‘Blaugrana’ will be looking to get back on the rails by building on three consecutive victories on hostile turf. One of the most noteworthy takeaways from those three wins is that Barcelona continually managed to score beyond the 70th minute on each occasion. That could prove significant, considering they’ve only kept one clean sheet on their last five competitive road trips.