PBP: Copa del Rey | Semifinal Leg 2 | Real Madrid v FC Barcelona | 27 February 2019 [R]

Players in danger of missing the potential final if booked during this tie:
Alba, Miranda, Suarez

 

On Saturday Madrid coach Solari brought up how Barcelona will have an additional day of rest going into this game.

Post-match Sevilla, reporters asked Gerard Piqué his thoughts on the matter.



"In the Liga meeting I think they had an extra day's rest and it finished 5-1, no?"

 

LPB have been resting most weekends since 2017.

 

May need to update when the squad list comes out, but even though Arthur and Cillessen practiced today I'm thinking that they are probably not going to be pushed to rejoin, or, even if they make the squad, not pushed to start (though that's tougher for Cillessen as he only tends to start CdR games and this is either the last or second to last one).

Start the strongest 11, I think, (1) we want to make the final, (2) the win in Sevilla gave us breathing room in La Liga whereas Madrid needed a dubious penalty call to even get back to 9 points down, not that we will start a weak squad in La Liga either, and (3) if we do really well Wednesday we may already have a psychological leg up on the weekend (and Real can start going back to what they do, all eggs in the CL basket, forget La Liga title).

MAtS
Semedo - Pique - Lenglet - Alba
Rakitic - Busquets - Alena
Messi - Suarez - Dembele​

Goalie - If Cillessen is cleared he could go directly back to starting, but I'd prefer MAtS in goal.

Defense - Really hope it is Semedo as Vinicius has good speed. Great to see Umtiti back but Lenglet is more in game shape and in tune with Pique at the moment.

Mids - Raki and Busi are givens for EV (and me), but assuming Arthur won't be ready to start even if he makes the squad we are left with bad choices: Vidal has played like crap in most games lately, Coutinho is not defensive enough to play mid, Roberto could start but then they put him on the right side and that never works - if Roberto gets the start I'd prefer he played on the left. So my choice is Alena, but in truth it is hard to see EV giving him the start. More likely Vidal or Roberto as I assume at most Arthur is only ready to come on as a sub if he makes the squad.

Forwards - easy pick of LSD, Coutinho hasn't shown enough lately and Malcom won't be given the start.

 

I agree with strong squad for CDR and then we'll see kind of thing for La Liga. This will be a tough fixture make no mistake about it because they want the Copa but we can win if we're playing to our level.

 

The treble dream is still alive this season for the following 7 teams (list will get reduced after this match, hence why I'm mentioning it):

Germany: Bayern
Spain: Barca, LPB
France: PSG
England: Man City [4]
Holland: Ajax
Portugal: Porto

(* excludes teams that are more than 12 points out of first in their league)

 

Not a very insightful article about tactics involved in playing twice in a few days, but it does make the point that we played about 30+ minutes against Sevilla with Leo, Louis, Philipe, and Ousmane, in what they call a 4-2-3-1. Could we see that again, sure, but I don't think we'll see it for a full game nor for more than a short period.

 

0-0 doesn’t work for us. Maybe for Saturday.

 

Seems the most optimal way to get the most out of our attacking talent all at once, namely 'Bouz and Couts at the SAME. DAMN. TIME!!!! I'm surprised it hasn't been rolled out often given what we were seeing last year from EV, but then again, I don't think the attackers have been at full strength very often this season.

The only issue I see is that we don't have a back-up plan once they're all out there, unless you believe in Malcom 'n the midfielders.

 

Couple previews of Clasico and possible formations, Marca predicts both: https://www.marca.com/en/football/real-madrid/2019/02/25/5c7429c7268e3e847e8b463c.html

Sport has Roberto as 3rd mid: https://www.sport-english.com/en/news/here-is-how-fc-barcelona-might-line-up-for-el-clasico-7324766

 

Seems like something worth trying when all the attackers are in-form, even if it seems at a glance it would leave us a bit more vulnerable when Alba goes forward. Right now the question of 'how to get all of Suarez, Coutinho and Dembele on the field' has to be about last thing I'd ever worry about, to be frank. And when Arthur comes back it would be even less tempting.

 

19 man squad list named, both ARTHUR and CILLESSEN included, one player must be dropped (Inaki Pena if Cillessen fully cleared):

The Barcelona squad list for the second leg is: Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Jasper Cillessen, Inaki Pena, Nelson Semedo, Gerard Pique, Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Philippe Coutinho, Arthur, Luis Suarez, Leo Messi, Ousmane Dembele, Malcom, Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto, Carles Alena, Arturo Vidal and Samuel Umtiti.

I'd love it if Arthur could start, given my previously expressed concerns over who teams with Busquets and Rakitic in the midfield, but I'm still thinking he comes on in the 2nd half.

 

Just saw that Messi never scored against LPB in a Copa match. 0 goals and 3 assists in 7 matches. Hope he breaks his duck and annihilates them!

 

That's ok, he's scored against them plenty of times in La Liga. I'm relaxed about the game tonight, the one on Saturday is far more important , if we win tonight, great, if we lose it's no biggie, far rather win or draw on Saturday.

 

anyone remember the last time el classico ended goalless

 

Couldn't agree less. Tonight's match is more important for me. Treble on the line. They're most likely not winning the league regardless what happens on Saturday.

 

I'm more with @BocaFan on this one. Come on let's bury these guys!

 

Realistically i don't think we are going to win both, although obviously that would be effing brilliant , so of the 2 i would rather win on Saturday as i think La Liga is more important than CDR. But as Celito said a 2-2 draw tonight would be nice, lol

 

Probably not, but ....
if Madrid wins tonight it might set the tone for the next match. It would be tough to rebound in 3 days, especially since there's not a lot that can be done to change the set-up of the team (assuming the strongest XI start tonight). Swapping Coutinho for Arthur is about as exciting as it could get in terms of rotation.

So although winning both sounds tough, I think a good result tonight increases the chances of a good result on Saturday.

 

I think either team could win both, as loser today might either lay down saturday, or might respond with a fury.

Today we have to score and they do not. 0-0 suits them as they'd advance on away goals. So tactically they might try to park the bus and counter quickly to get an insurance goal. Not sure how well they can do that (they are pretty good at counter attacking, not sure they are good at parking the bus). If we score first then they have to attack, and could open things up for us even more. If they score first then they can really try to park the bus, but again, not sure they can keep a clean sheet for a full game against us. And playing at home may make them want to score more, put on a show, not park the bus, at least not till they score.

The Liga match though they need to win and the tables may turn. Not that we are good at parking the bus, but a draw is fine for us in Liga. While only a high scoring draw 2-2 or more works in Copa.



No surprises, I just really hope we see this:

MAtS
Pique-Lenglet
Semedo-Busquets-Alba
Rakitic-Roberto
Messi-Suarez-Dembele​

and not this:

MAtS
Pique-Lenglet
Semedo-Busquets-Alba
Roberto-Rakitic
Messi-Suarez-Dembele​

When Roberto and Semedo are on the same side they play like idiots, Semedo doesn't get forward enough and neither does Roberto, they get in each other's way, are generally not free flowing and don't offer a good outlet or threat on the right, which is tough since Messi cuts in so much. We saw it in Roma and we saw it in Lyon.