Copa del Rey semi-final: Barcelona vs Villarreal preview

February 10, 2015
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Barcelona vs VillarrealJust ten days after recording a hard-fought victory over Villarreal in La Liga, Barcelona face the same opposition in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final.

Having given a great account of themselves on the previous visit to Camp Nou, the Yellow Submarine arrive in Catalunya high on confidence.

Even if the team did not experience too many problems in the opening exchanges, it was evident that Barcelona were not playing to their potential.

Luis Enrique’s charges, however, kept raising their form as the season unfolded and appear to have finally hit the ground running.

The Catalans have won last nine matches in all competitions, scoring impressive 34 goals in the process, with weekend’s 5-2 triumph at San Mames acting as another confidence boost.

Barcelona now face a tricky tie against high-flying Villarreal, but they can be backed at 1.25 (1/4) to extend the winning run to ten matches.

The Catalans were made to work really hard for the 3-2 league win over Yellow Submarine, having twice come from behind to record an important triumph.

Luis Enrique has full-backs Martin Montoya and Douglas Pereira struggling through injury, while Thomas Vermaelen is definitely out.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): ter Stegen – Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba – Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta – Messi, Suarez, Neymar.

Villarreal were clearly not rocked by the one season they spent in Segunda seeing as the team quickly returned to where they belong.

The Yellow Submarine are again challenging for Champions League positions, while their Copa del Rey and Europa League runs have been quite impressive as well.

Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side recorded a comfortable triumph over Granada at the weekend to remains three points behind the fourth-placed Valencia and now they turn their attention towards the cup campaign.

Villarreal have been handed a very tough draw as they battle Barcelona for a place in the final, but bear in mind they are 6.00 (5/1) to qualify for the next stage.

The Yellow Submarine can take heart from the impressive league performance at Camp Nou, although they will want to avoid a defeat this time out.

The likes of Denis Cheryshev, Mario Gaspar, Jonathan dos Santos and Luciano Vietto are set to be recalled after they were rested at the weekend, but Adrian Marin and Bojan Jokic are out injured.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Asenjo – Mario, Musacchio, Ruiz, Costa – Cheryshev, Trigueros, Bruno, J. Dos Santos – Vietto, Uche.

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