Real Madrid vs Barcelona injury report for the Copa del Rey tie: Will Pedri play?
Xavi has taken a 21-man squad to the capital for this evening’s Copa del Rey semi-final first leg. Key players missed the trip.
Barcelona go into this evening’s Copa del Rey semi-final first leg with a number of absentees in attack. Xavi was forced to leave two of his top goal scorers out of the 21-man squad which flew down to the capital. Pedri suffered a thigh muscle tear in the first leg of last month’s Europa League clash with Manchester United. He won’t be available for another couple of weeks at least so he should be back for the return leg at Camp Nou but in the meantime, Barça will have to do without a player who has contributed eight goals, six of them in the league, when they take to the pitch at the Bernabéu tonight.
You might also enjoy
Another of Xavi’s in-form forwards, Ousmane Dembélé has also stayed at home. The winger, whose solitary strike against Real Sociedad was enough to fire Barça into the semis, has racked up eight goals plus seven assists this season. He succumbed to injury in the league game against Girona on 28 January, suffering a torn left hamstring which will kep him out until mid-March.
Lewy laid low
In the latest setback, Xavi lost top scorer Robert Lewandowski, who picked up a hamstring injury in last weekend’s defeat in Almería. The World Cup appeared to have affected the
Polish striker’s form - before the tournament he had registered 18 goals in 19 games, a rate he has been unable to sustain since domestic competition resumed. Lewandowski has 25 goals from 31 games - including a couple in this competition but he will miss tonight’s first leg. That’s a blow for Xavi, who has no clear replacement in the squad. The closest is Ansu, who only recently returned from injury and is far from his best form.
Jekyll and Hyde
It’s difficult to predict which Barça we will see at the Bernabéu tonight - the dependable, solid side that are cruising in LaLiga having suffered just two defeats or the disastrous, decoupled side that veered completely off the rails in Europe (just two victories, both against Viktoria Plzen, in eight games, with 16 goals conceded).