Barcelona vs Real Madrid

The upcoming El Clasico showdown is set for Saturday night at Estadio de La Cartuja, with the Copa del Rey final at stake as Barcelona and Real Madrid clash.

Barcelona aim to claim the title for a record 32nd time, while Real Madrid, chasing their 21st Copa del Rey triumph, face added pressure after their recent Champions League elimination.

Few could have foreseen Barcelona’s stellar season under Hansi Flick, who is steering the team toward potentially four trophies in his debut campaign—a remarkable feat.

Having already secured the Spanish Super Cup with a 5-2 victory over Real Madrid, Barcelona lead the La Liga race by four points with five matches left.

The Catalan giants are also in the Champions League semi-finals, facing Inter Milan, and have a shot at a second trophy this weekend as Spain’s biggest clubs go head-to-head again.

Barcelona head into the final buoyed by a 1-0 La Liga win over Mallorca, unbeaten domestically since December, posing a formidable challenge for Real Madrid, who have won the last two Copa del Rey finals.

The last time Barcelona defeated their fierce rivals in the competition final was in 1990, when Guillermo Amor and Julio Salinas scored to give them a 2-0 victory. In fact, Real Madrid won 2-1 in 2014 and 1-0 in 2011.

Barcelona will be trying to defeat Real Madrid for the third time this season after winning 4-0 at the Bernabeu in La Liga back in October. They are the most successful team in Copa del Rey history, having won the trophy 31 times, with their most recent victory occurring in 2020–21.

Los Blancos appear to be about to embark on a new chapter as it is anticipated that Ancelotti will be fired this summer, with Xabi Alonso of Bayer Leverkusen being the front-runner to take his place.

Although Real Madrid would not have considered the Copa del Rey a top priority at the beginning of the season, the capital giants now view the competition as extremely crucial, and there is a good case to be made that they are under most of the pressure this weekend.

Real Madrid has defeated Barcelona in four of their seven Copa del Rey finals. The two teams' most recent cup matchup, which took place in the 2023 competition's semi-finals, concluded in a 4-0 Los Blancos victory.

Given that Robert Lewandowski, Barcelona's top scorer, is out with a hamstring injury and won't be anticipated to return until the league match against Real Madrid next month, Ferran Torres is expected to be selected in the middle.

Nevertheless, Wojciech Szczesny is probably going to stay in goal for the match.
Rodrygo, who has been under fire lately, will be in the starting lineup, according to Ancelotti's post-match news conference on Wednesday. Fran Garcia will start at left-back from the first whistle.

The France international is expected to start, while Mendy should remain on the bench, despite suffering an ankle injury during the most recent Champions League match against Arsenal.