Venue: Power8 Stadium, Barcelona
Date: 01/13/2016
Kick-off: 8:00 PM GMT / 03:00 PM EST
Television coverage: LaLigaTVCOPA (UK), beIN Sports USA, beIN Sports en Español, beIN SPORTS CONNECT U.S.A. (USA)
Online Streaming: fuboTV (USA), Sky Go (UK)
Match
Espanyol News
Espanyol suffered a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Barcelona in the first leg of the Copa Del Rey Round of 16 clash last Thursday and the three goal deficit means that not many feel Constantin Galca’s men stand a chance of progressing into the next round heading into the second leg.
Nonetheless, Galca would want his players to deliver a much better performance in front of their own fans and also perhaps maintain a bit of discipline after things got out of hand during the first leg at the Camp Nou.
Injury Doubts: Anaitz Zabala Arbilla, Victor Sanchez Mata, Jose Canas
Espanyol Probable Lineup: Pau Lopez; Javi Lopez, Roco, Alvarez,Raillo; Jordan, Asensio, Ciani ; Caicedo, Moerno, Abraham
Barcelona News
Having established a comfortable three goal lead in the first leg of the Copa Del Rey Round of 16 against Espanyol, Barcelona now head into the return leg at the Power8 Stadium without much pressure on their shoulders.
That said, Luis Enrique’s men will need to guard against complacency and up against the aggressive Espanyol side, the Catalan giants will have to maintain their cool in order to avoid any other unnecessary suspensions heading into the next leg.
Injury Doubts: Rafinha, Luis Suarez (Suspended)
Barcelona Probable Lineup: ter Stegen; Vidal, Mascherano, Vermaelen, Mathieu; Arda Turan, Sergi Roberto, Rakitic; Adriano, Neymar, Sandro
Prediction
Many feel that the second leg clash on Wednesday night is nothing more than a mere formality and Barcelona are expected to go through unless Espanyol are blessed with a minor miracle.
Luis Enrique will in all likelihood be using his second string players for the clash but one suspects that they will still be good enough to be able to claim another victory on the night.
Espanyol 0 – 2 Barcelona
