Barcelona v Real Madrid tips, betting preview, team news, TV details

Eleven Sports, 8pm Wednesday

Lionel Messi’s participation or otherwise has been the main talking point going into Wednesday’s Copa del Rey semi-final first leg, but even if the Argentinian ace doesn’t make it Barcelona still look the best bet.

Messi was a non-runner when Real visited Camp Nou in the league in October and the record-breaking marksman wasn’t missed – Barcelona ran out 5-1 winners, hastening the departure of Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui in the process.

Real return with Santiago Solari at the helm and they are a better team now than they were in the autumn.

They are on a five-game winning streak, scoring plenty of goals and have managed to hoist themselves up to third place in the table.

They are two points behind Atletico, who they play on Saturday. Solari has selection issues because of the proximity of these fixtures, although he is rightly attaching plenty of importance to the Copa because Real haven’t won it since 2014.

Barca, who don’t play at Athletic until Sunday, are also giving it their all as they chase a fifth Copa Del Rey triumph in a row.

They have twice had to overturn first-leg losses to get to this stage, the second of which was a mesmerising 6-1 thrashing of Sevilla last week when Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho were outstanding.

La Liga standings

Recommendation
Barcelona
2pts 4-5 general

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