Barcelona vs. Villanovense: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream, TV Info
If Barcelona were to lose this Copa del Rey game to Villanovense, it's arguable that there will have never been a cup shock like it.
Even Real Madrid going out to Alcorcon in 2009 wouldn't register the same seismic effect on the Richter scale.
The visitors are one of the longest-priced opponents ever seen in the competition, and the fact that they've lost every game since their creditable draw against the Catalans on Oct. 28 hints at the size of the task ahead of them.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
Barca, meanwhile, have won all six of their games, conceding only a last-touch goal to AS Roma in the Champions League.
For the last three games certainly, Barca have looked unstoppable.
Date: Wednesday, December 2
Time: 7 p.m. GMT/2 p.m. ET
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona
TV Info: beIN Espanyol (U.S. only)
Live Stream: beIN Sports Connect (U.S. only)
Form Lines
Predicted Formations
Julio Cobos Moreno will likely set his stall out from the very beginning of this second leg.
For a team that can't seem to win a game at present, a hammering at the hands of Barcelona will do nothing for their confidence moving forward to the rest of the season.
A 4-4-2 formation will be more conservative than attack-minded, but as Moreno's troops showed in the first leg, they were not overawed by their opponents and gave as good as they got for long periods.
Carlitos Andujar and Javier Zafra won't play any part in the match but the club have taken the entire squad to Catalonia for what is the biggest game in their history.
The manager is likely to start with the same side who began the first leg, no doubt hoping for another backs-against-the-wall performance to frustrate the Blaugrana.
Barcelona will be much changed from the weekend destruction of Real Sociedad, and Luis Enrique is likely to keep much the same side as the team that drew 0-0 at the Estadio Romero Cuerda.
It will allow the Barca B midfield of Wilfrid Kaptoum, Sergi Samper and Gerard Gumbau to escape the shackles of a draining Segunda B campaign, where the weight of expectation is falling heavily upon their shoulders at present.
Alongside some more senior colleagues, the youngsters should be able to find the time to express themselves more freely, and the standard of their performances could be key to the outcome of this match.
Player to Watch
Javi Sanchez came closest to breaking the deadlock for the hosts in the first leg, with his acrobatic scissor kick just skimming the top of the crossbar.
Against a makeshift Barca back line, the centre-back could well make his presence felt again at dead ball situations, and he won't need asking twice to harass and harangue Marc Bartra and Thomas Vermaelen.
Although Villanovense as a unit haven't been anything to write home about in their last few games, Sanchez at least continues to prove worthy of a starting berth.
Like his Arsenal namesake, he will give 100 percent effort throughout proceedings.
Key Battle
Jose Maria Tapia is a young left-back who will surely enjoy the chance to test himself against Munir El Haddadi once more, this time in a cavernous Camp Nou.
If he's not overawed by his surroundings and keeps his eye on the ball, he can make life difficult for a player who has struggled to do the business at the top level for a while now.
The Barca wide man could do with a goal or two here to lift his spirits and perhaps the standard of his performances.
A lack of goals has been the biggest of millstones around his neck, and he'll never have a better chance of breaking his duck in 2015.
Odds
Barcelona: 1/19
Villanovense: 100/1
Draw: 22/11
(via Odds Checker)
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
