Copa Del Rey Second Leg - Match Preview

Tonight sees the two giants of Spanish football square off in the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinal at the Camp Nou. Real Madrid CF Predicted Starting XI: Casillas, Ramos, Arbeloa, Ricardo Carvalho, Marcelo, Xabi Alonso, Diarra, Özil, Higuaín, Ronaldo, and Benzema. FC Barcelona Predicted Starting XI: Pinto, Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Abidal, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc, Messi, and Alexis. Though FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF have played several times this season, only one match has been played at Camp Nou. After Barcelona’s thrilling win away in the Santiago Bernabéu coupled with the big 4-1 win over Málaga CF in the league, the blaugrana should easily be able to carry that momentum into the home second leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals. Tensions will be running high and an all-out fight has been brewing between these two teams for a while now. If Barcelona is winning, especially by a large margin, expect even more maliciousness from the Castilians that the Catalans will not be able to ignore. On the football side of things however, Barcelona should not have too much trouble securing its place in the semifinals against the winner of the Valencia/Levante tie. (Third division miracle team CD Mirandés defeated RCD Espanyol with a last minute goal Tuesday, eliminating the possibility of another intense rivalry in the finals.) The match should still be tough, however, so while another manita would be glorious, a tighter score line is probably more realistic. Preview video and photos ;