FC Barcelona VS Sevilla, a two-goal margin on Wednesday

Match Time：3/4/2021 04:00 Thursday  (GMT+8)

Spanish Copa Del Rey --  FC Barcelona   VS   Sevilla

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Barcelona and Sevilla meet for the second time in four days on Wednesday - and the third time in a month - for the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final tie.  

 

Record 30-time winners Barca have it all to do if they are to progress to the final, where one of Levante or Athletic Bilbao await, as they trail 2-0 from the first leg.  

 

Match preview  

Jules Kounde's superb individual effort and a late strike from Ivan Rakitic, at a point when Barca were desperately chasing a goal, earned Sevilla a big victory in the reverse tie.   

 

Los Nervionenses have finished runners-up to Barcelona twice in the last six seasons and are now on the verge of another final.  

 

However, a two-goal margin may not be enough for Julen Lopetegui's men on the basis of Saturday's league meeting between the sides, which Barca won 2-0.  

 

Ousmane Dembele and Lionel Messi were on target either side of half time to earn Ronald Koeman's charges a deserved victory, making it 15 games unbeaten in La Liga.  Barca's title hopes are as good as over, though, as they trail leaders Atletico Madrid by five points having played a game more.  

 

Trailing Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 in the Champions League last 16, the Copa del Rey is now realistically Koeman's last hope of silverware in his maiden campaign at Camp Nou.  

 

Sevilla are also still competing in Europe, trailing Borussia Dortmund 3-2 heading into next week's second leg, while in the league they are five points behind Barca in fourth.   

 

Saturday's loss on home soil ended a six-match winning run for Sevilla in the league, and they must quickly pick themselves up for this huge showdown.  

 

Los Nervionenses have won just two of their last 19 meetings with Barcelona in all competitions, though Lopetegui's men will know that even a one-goal loss on the night will still send them through.  

 

That may well determine what tactics Lopetegui goes with, having been caught cold by Koeman's decision to use Dembele and Messi in a front two at the weekend, with Sergino Dest and Jordi Alba deployed as wing-backs.  

 

Barcelona Copa del Rey form: WWWL 

Barcelona form (all competitions): LWLDWW  

Sevilla Copa del Rey form: WWWWWW 

Sevilla form (all competitions): WWWLWL  

 

Team News 

Barca's weekend win against Sevilla may have come at a cost as Gerard Pique and replacement Ronald Araujo - only just back from an ankle injury - both sustained knocks.  

 

Pedri also left the field in the final 20 minutes after injuring his leg and is expected to miss this game.  

 

Philippe Coutinho, Ansu Fati and Sergi Roberto are long-term absentees for Barca, who are likely to go with a back five once again in midweek.  

 

As for Sevilla, Marcos Acuna and Lucas Ocampos will not be back from injury in time for this cup tie.  

 

Suso, Oliver Torres and Youssef En-Nesyri were all brought off the bench against Barca on Saturday and are each in contention to start this one.  

 

Luuk de Jong has scored twice in his last three games, but he is the favourite to make way for En-Nesyri, who is without a goal in five outings.  

 

Barcelona possible starting lineup: 

Ter Stegen; Mingueza, Pique, Umtiti; Dest, De Jong, Busquets, Puig, Alba; Messi, Dembele  

 

Sevilla possible starting lineup: 

Bounou; Navas, Kounde, Carlos, Vidal; Rakitic, Gudelj, Jordan; Torres, En-Nesyri, Suso    

 

Barcelona 2-1 Sevilla (2-3 on aggregate)