On Wednesday, Barcelona will host Villarreal in a Copa del Rey semi-final that could prove to be more exciting than how it would seem on paper. The "Yellow Submarine" will visit Camp Nou Stadium for the second time in ten days, trying to prove that their last meeting against Los Blaugranas was no fluke, while Luis Enrique's side will try to validate their title chances in a tournament that always has them as one of the main attractions.
Following their defeat against Real Sociedad back in January, Barcelona has performed astonishingly well in their recent nine matches, winning all of them and showing shades of that marvelous 2009 team that won it all. Coach Luis Enrique has stated the need for his men to keep showing that same form, despite being deemed as favorites against the team from the province of Valencia.
"We go into the game in the same way we do a league match. We are out to win, to not let the rivals have many opportunities to score against us. Villarreal are having a spectacular season and it'll be a tough game. Not receiving a goal is vital; our objective is to win,"Barcelona's boss stated.
On the other hand, Villarreal have been quite difficult to beat for Luis Enrique's men in both of their league matches. During their first semester matchup, Barcelona barely managed to score one goal during the final minutes of the game, winning against a team that deserved much better. Ten days ago, Denis Cheryshev and the Dos Santos brothers(Jonathan and Giovani) made Barca's defense look rather badly, taking the lead twice before conceding a wonderful goal by Messi to give los Culés three more points. With those games as reference, coach Marcelino García Toral will try to stun the Blaugrana side once and for all, trying to burst into Villarreal's record books by leading them to their first Copa del Rey final ever.
"They are going to be really tough to beat, but that doesn't mean we won't go out there with the ambition of getting a good result. We are two steps away of reaching a final match, and this first game will help us realize how good our chances are of getting there," García explained.
Barcelona vs Villarreal team sheets
Barcelona's Starting XI: Ter Stegen, Piqué, Iniesta, Suárez, Messi, Neymar, Rafinha, Mascherano, Alba, Alves, Mathieu.
Villarreal's Starting XI: Asenjo, Mario, Musacchio, V.Ruiz, Costa, Jonathan dos Santos, Pina, Bruno, Cheryshev, Gio, Vietto.
Barcelona's bench: Masip, Rakitic, Sergio, Xavi, Pedro, Bartra, Adriano.
Villarreal's bench: To follow.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Follow the game on-the-go
Download our iOS and Android apps to follow soccer on-the-go. It comes packed with features - live scores, fixtures, results, tables, line-ups, stats, TV schedule and much more! Sorry, no live streaming within the app.
