Barcelona will face Valencia away in their Copa Del Rey quarter-final fixture on Thursday. The Catalans, who are in great form, will aim to claim the semi-final spot and end their four-year-long Copa Del Rey drought.
Barcelona’s Recent Form
Barcelona ended the month of January with 0 defeats, the only unfortunate results were in La Liga against Getafe where the Catalans dropped 2 points away from home, and in the Champions League against Atalanta.
Barcelona has been in impressive form, since the start of the month. Barcelona faced Valencia in La Liga in January where the Catalans won the game comfortably with the score-line ending 7-1. Barcelona took a dip in form during the last two months, but now the players are ready for every challenge in their way.
Hansi Flick has shown his work on the field, the players have changed their mentality and have produced some amazing performances recently.
Expected Lineups
Valencia predicted lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): Mamardashvili (GK) — Foulquier, Tarrega, Mosquera, Gaya — Guerra, Barrenechea — D. Lopez, Almeida, Rioja — Duro Credits:sportingnews.com.
Barcelona predicted lineup (4-3-3, right to left): Szczesny (GK) — Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde — De Jong, Casado, Pedri — Lamine Yamal, Lewandowski, Raphinha Credits:sportingnews.com.
De Jong will be the favorite to start this game due to his amazing performances recently. Gavi will be out due to a head injury in the last match and Dani Olmo remains in doubt.
What to Expect?
Lately, Valencia has not had the best season, they are facing relegation danger in La Liga. Due to this relegation pressure their whole focus will be on the Copa Del Rey game, they will give a tough time to Barcelona. Flick has to be ready to see a low block again this time and dismantle it. Barcelona needed to start off the game with an early goal so they could gain momentum throughout. In my opinion, the score would be 3-1 in favor of Barcelona.