Villarreal vs. Barcelona: Team News, Predicted Line-Ups, Live Stream & TV Info
Villarreal take on Barcelona at El Madrigal looking to grab the win which will take them into the Copa del Rey final for the first time in their history.
It won't be an easy passage, with the Catalans 3-1 up from the first leg and themselves looking toward a final that will potentially extend their record in the competition.
No team can boast as many King's cups as Barca who have 26 final victories in the bag at this stage.
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A partisan home support providing a hostile atmosphere can only help Marcelino's side as they go looking for their first win against Barcelona since 2008, per Fussball Wettpoint.
They will have to guard against the early away goal, however. If the visitors score early, the likelihood is that the game will be over as a contest. Villarreal haven't scored four since early December against Real Sociedad, and only on one further occasion in La Liga in 2014/15.
With a very winnable home game next up for the Blaugrana, Luis Enrique may well go for the jugular by naming his strongest starting XI.
Date: Wednesday, March 4
Time: 7 p.m. GMT/2 p.m ET
Venue: El Madrigal, Villarreal, Spain
TV Info: Sky Sports 5 (UK only)/beIN Sports 1 (USA only)
Live Stream: Sky Go (UK only)/beIN Sports Connect (USA only)
Form Lines
| Villarreal | Barcelona |
| D 1-1 vs. Real Madrid | W 3-1 vs Granada |
| W 3-1 vs. Salzburg | W 2-1 vs Manchester City |
| W 1-0 vs. Eibar | L 0-1 vs Malaga |
| W 2-1 vs. Salzburg | W 5-0 vs Levante |
| L 1-2 vs. Rayo Vallecano | W 3-1 vs Villarreal |
| L 1-3 vs. Barcelona | W 5-2 vs. Athletic Club |
WhoScored.com
Predicted Formations
We're unlikely to see either side revert from their normal formations.
Luis Enrique has barely deviated from the classic Barca 4-3-3 and Marcelino favours a 4-4-2 above others, albeit both will try something different should the game dictate.
Certainly from the off, those are the formations we can expect.
Sergio Asenjo will, as usual, keep goal and while has has conceded six in the last two games against Barca, no one can say that he had a bad game in either. He was simply let down by those players in front of him.
The manager should therefore be scrutinising his back line with a very real prospect of demotion if they're not up to the task.
Mateo Musacchio has been the poorest of the lot and will certainly need to be on his game if the Submarine want to keep Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi at bay. Two of his mistakes let in the Catalans the last time out.
Victor Ruiz has fared slightly better with support in the wide areas from his full-back Jaume Costa. However, both will need to be at their very best to deal with a rejuvenated Lionel Messi.
Mario makes up the defensive quartet and he sits slightly behind Jonathan Dos Santos who has more reason than most to dump the opponents out of the competition.
Brother Giovani too will ensure his best work in this game; both ex-Blaugrana brothers will surely be keen to add some silverware to the trophy cabinet.
Tomas Pina, Denis Cheryshev and Bruno make up an outstanding midfield with Dos Santos and Luciano Vietto leading the charge from the front.
Barca's XI virtually picks itself at this stage.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen might not be enjoying his role as cup goalkeeper, but he is a vital cog nonetheless. The merits of using Marc Bartra alongside Gerard Pique are obvious but Enrique is likely to stick with his tried-and-tested line-up so that means a start for Javier Mascherano.
Dani Alves and Jordi Alba complete a familiar back four.
The front three pick itself so the manager's only conundrum comes in midfield. Does he rest an out-of-sorts Andres Iniesta or not?
This could be the game for Rafinha Alcantara to further enhance his growing reputation so Iniesta could miss out, with Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic the final pieces of the Barca jigsaw.
Player to watch
After being rested for the trip to the Santiago Bernabeu and a date against his parent club, Cheryshev will return with the bit between his teeth.
The Russian has been one of the success stories of Villarreal's season and kept Barca on their toes during the first leg and their recent league match.
Despite being on the losing side in both, Cheryshev was a constant thorn in the Blaugrana defence's side.
His mix of pace and direct running unsettles most defences and Luis Enrique really needs to consider a man-to-man, rather than zonal, marking job on Cheryshev to curtail his influence.
Since the last game against the Catalans, the youngster has only featured twice for the full 90 minutes, both games coming against Salzburg in the Europa League.
His goal and man-of-the-match performance in the first leg set them on their way to victory.
A similar performance could do the same here.
Key Battle
Luciano Vietto is in decent form of late, with five goals and two assists in his last seven games.
A busy striker who likes to get in among the action, Vietto's goal and performance against Barca in the league game should be enough to convince Enrique that special attention needs to be paid.
If his preferred centre-back pairing take their concentration away from him for a minute, they will be punished.
Likely to operate just right of centre, Vietto should find himself in direct combat with Javier Mascherano. It will be an interesting battle with the Argentine often beaten for pace and Vietto no slouch.
If Cheryshev and Giovani Dos Santos can shift the focus to the wider areas, Vietto is likely to profit through the middle.
We'll see whether or not it's enough to tip the form book upside down.
Odds
The following pre-match odds are available via Oddschecker:
Home Win: 17/4
Away Win: 4/6
Draw: 10/3
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