Elche vs. Barcelona: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview

Barcelona will go into the second leg of their Copa del Rey tie against Elche in a much more positive frame of mind following a buoyant week.

The build-up to the first leg had been overshadowed by a 1-0 defeat by Real Sociedad in La Liga and the departures of Andoni Zubizarreta and Carles Puyol.

However, Barcelona put those issues to one side to rout Elche 5-0 thanks to a brace from Neymar, and goals from Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba, before beating Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Sunday.

The return meeting in Elche now seems like little more than a formality for Barcelona as either Real Madrid or Atletico await in the quarter-finals.

Here’s all the information you need on where to catch the game and a closer look at the second leg of the Copa del Rey Round of 16 game.

Date: Thursday, Jan. 15

Time: 9 p.m. (GMT), 4 p.m. (ET)

Live Stream: Sky Go App (UK), beIN SPORTS (U.S.) Be sure to check your regional availability over at LiveonSat

TV Info: Sky Sports 1 (UK), beIN Sports (U.S.)

Messi's Back

Per Sid Lowe in The Guardian, Messi has helped to unite Barcelona in the last two games following claims of a rift between the Argentine and coach Luis Enrique.

His contributions in the past two games, when he scored in each match, have lifted the mood. However, it would be no surprise if Messi sat out Thursday’s return with Elche due to the scoreline.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Enrique only made three changes from the team which beat Elche for the 3-1 win over Atletico. However, with a trip to Deportivo La Coruna on the horizon on Sunday, he is likely to swap things around a bit more.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen should come back into the team in goal, and there could also be places for Marc Bartra and Sergi Roberto, who started the first leg. The likes of Pedro, Rafinha, Adriano and Munir will also be hoping for a chance.

Neymar may not be risked after taking a kick to the ankle against Atletico, per the Daily Mail. Barcelona confirmed, per the official club website, he trained alone on Tuesday morning.

Elche, meanwhile, will go into the game off the bottom of La Liga after a surprise 2-1 win at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Speaking after last week’s defeat in the first leg, per Marca (via Inside Spanish Football), coach Fran Escriba vowed to put on a positive show in front of Elche’s own supporters.

Escriba said: “Clearly the tie is over for us. We played them with the best of intentions, trying to win the game. We've got to make the return leg something for our fans to celebrate.”

All the goals in the first leg arrived in a 25-minute period before and after half-time. During the game, Escriba played with three central defenders at times and saw his team unable to test Barcelona.

With Elche playing fellow strugglers Levante in La Liga on Sunday, it wouldn't seem worth the risk for Escriba to pick his strongest team against Barcelona.

Thursday will be the second of three scheduled meetings between the two clubs this month and it is hard to envisage the outcome of any of the games being anything other than a Barcelona win.

Prediction: Elche 0 Barcelona 2