Barcelona v Real Madrid
Football : Copa Del Rey Final played at the Mestalla, Valencia
Wednesday 20 April 2011 - Kickoff 8:30pm
This game is live on TV

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Barcelona

This is the 2nd of 4 meetings between the giants of Spanish and European football with silverware being directly distributed as a result of the game. Barcelona played well on Saturday in the 1st game at the Bernebeau, but they were not at their crisp best and the likes of Lionel Messi outwardly showed frustration that has not been that prevalent in previous seasons.

The draw at Real Madrid effectively handed Barcelona the La Liga title on Saturday. The Catalans effectively hold a 9 point lead over Real Madrid with 6 games left to play and just have to go through the formalities of wrapping up the trophy. Barcelona are 13-3-0 away from home in La Liga, scoring 44 goals and conceding 7 which gives them the most away wins and goals scored, while also having the best defensive record.

Barcelona were 2-1-1 away from home as they came through in the Copa Del Rey.

The draw against Real also means Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 12 games in all competitions, winning 10 of those. They have won 4 and drawn 2 of their last 6 away games since losing at Arsenal in the 1st Leg of a Champions League Last 16 game. The Catalans have scored in every game away from home this season.

Carlos Puyel was surprisingly travelling with the squad for this game after being stretchered off at the weekend. It is still expected that Sergio Busquets will join Gerard Pique in defence with Javier Mascherano being brought into the side. Pep Guardiola has taken a strong squad to Valencia with the intention to attack.

Real Madrid

Jose Mourinho may end up cursing Spain for taking away his records if he is not careful. After losing his first home League game in 9 years this season, he now puts his record of having won EVERY Cup Final his teams have been involved in, as well as the fact he has won at least 1 trophy in his last 8 full seasons as a manager.

Mourinho has been heavily criticised for the tactics employed by his side in the 1-1 draw with Barca at the weekend, both by superstars like Alfredo di Stefano as well as the media. The result means La Liga is effectively out of Madrid's reach, but that is more down to Barca's consistency than anything Real have done wrong. The team is 10-4-2 away from home in the League, scoring 26 goals and conceding 15, with only Barcelona having more wins, scoring more goals and conceding less.

Real Madrid are 2-1-1 away from home in the Copa Del Rey this season with both wins coming in the last two rounds at Atletico Madrid and Sevilla.

The team have won 8 of their last 10 games in all competitions, although they have failed to win 2 of their last 5. Real Madrid have won their last 4 away games in all competitions since back to back draws at Lyon and Deportivo, and they are unbeaten in their last 7 away games since losing at Osasuna.

Lassana Diarra and Fernando Gago have both been ruled out through injury so Pepe may continue in the surprise role as midfield enforcer as he was employed on Saturday. Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema are expected to start and could be joined by Mesut Ozil who was lively when coming on from the bench on Saturday.

Head to Head

The draw at the weekend between the teams means Barcelona's run of 5 consecutive victories against their rivals was ended.

Barcelona also hold a 3-1 head to head over Real Madrid in games played in the Copa Del Rey.

The Catalans have won their last 3 Finals in this competition.

Real Madrid have not won this competition since 1993.

Prediction

After watching the game on Saturday, I really feel Real Madrid are going to find it extremely tough to beat Barcelona in any of their remaining games this season. The team does not defend well enough to contain the Catalans, and Jose Mourinho didn't seem to want his side to push too far forward unless on the counter.

Barcelona's players were getting a little frustrated with the tactics employed by Real, but I think the brunt of the frustration was down to the penalty being awarded to Real and Barca's belief it was a harsh decision.

The Catalans were also slightly off their game on Saturday, particularly in the final third, but were still creating chances to punish Real's defending.

There is a chance for Real here if Puyol misses out as expected, but they will have to take chances and that can be a dangerous policy against this Barcelona team that likes to pass teams to death, yet has plenty of pace in the team to counter effectively.

All in all, I think Barcelona are going to be too strong for Real this time, especially on a neutral ground, and I was a little surprised they were quoted at odds against.

The teams most likely to beat Barca are those that defend well in numbers, and I just feel Real do not do that just yet, so will take the odds against that Barcelona win this in regulation time.

The Pick :

Barcelona 2-1 Real Madrid

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Barcelona to WIN @ 2.05 (3 UNITS)

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