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Valencia will be the host of the Copa Del Rey final, with another highly anticipated El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid set to be played at the Mestalla Stadium.
Barcelona is in a bad place right now, that`s for sure. After deservingly getting knocked out by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals, Barca went on to lose 1-0 at Granada over the weekend, basically ruining their title chances. Atmosphere in the locker room is really poor, Messi is playing far from his best and coach Martino is under massive pressure right now. A win in the Copa Del Rey final would pretty much save Barca’s season and the Blaugrana side will be confident after defeating Real Madrid 4-3 at Bernabeu less than 1 month ago.
Real is in much better form than Barcelona right now, winning 4 of their last 5 games with an aggregate score of 16-0, but Los Blancos looked very shaky and vulnerable in the reverse leg against Dortmund, which they lost in a very disappointing manner with 2-0. Ronaldo missed the game and Real looked a totally different team without their star man, which will also be unavailable today. However, unlike Barcelona, Real recovered well to rout Almeria 4-0 over the weekend.
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Team news & lineups
Valdes and Dos Santos are out for Barcelona, with Puyol and Pique questionable. Real Madrid will have to do without Ronaldo, Jese and Arbeola, while Marcelo and Khedira are doubtful. Ronaldo missing is of course a huge blow for Ancelotti’s side.
FC Barcelona: Pinto – Alves, Mascherano, Bartra, Alba – Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta – Neymar, Messi, Sanchez
Real Madrid: Casillas – Carvajal, Ramos, Pepe, Coentrao – Modric, Alonso, Illarramendi – Di Maria, Benzema, Bale
Real Madrid looks to be the better team right now but the big question is how will they cope with Ronaldo’s absence, because in the Dortmund game they were terrible. However, Barca has it`s own problems, and a potential center-back pairing of Mascherano and Puyol, with Pinto in goal, could help Los Blancos to create danger even without their star man Cristiano. My input is that if Ronaldo would have played the odds would be reversed, because Real is the team to beat here. A single player missing can’t have such a huge impact on the price so I will go with Real Madrid, Barcelona does not look capable to defeat a top team at the moment, Martino’s style of play does not suit them and Messi is totally out of form. At the moment Real is the better team and Barca’s problems in defense could well prove decisive. My tip is Real Madrid to win the Cup (to qualify outright). I will approach this bet with high stakes as I am very confident. Prediction: FC Barcelona – Real Madrid 1-2 (after extra time).
Pick: Real Madrid to win the Cup
Odds: 2.02 @ Unibet
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 9.18
Event date: 16 April
