All to know as La Liga leaders Barcelona conflict with Atletico Madrid within the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal.
Who: Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona
What: Copa del Rey semifinal
The place: Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, Spain
When: Thursday at 9pm (20:00 GMT)
How you can comply with: Al Jazeera Sport may have reside textual content and picture protection of the Copa del Rey semifinal.
Spanish soccer titans Atletico and Barcelona will lock horns on Thursday in Madrid with nothing lower than a spot within the Copa del Rey remaining on the road.
The match is the opening semifinal leg of the competitors. The return leg can be performed at Barcelona’s Nou Camp Stadium on March 4.
Who’re the defending Copa champions?
Barcelona are the reigning champions after they received the 2025 remaining 3-2 in opposition to Actual Madrid for a record-extending thirty second Copa del Rey title.
The match was performed on April 26 at La Cartuja Stadium in Seville.
There was no repeat Copa champion since Barcelona received it 4 years straight from 2015 to 2018.
When did Barcelona and Atletico final meet?
The groups final performed in a La Liga fixture on December 2 with Atletico – arriving at Camp Nou on a seven-game successful run in all competitions – putting first when Spanish worldwide Alex Baena put the guests up inside 20 minutes.
However Barcelona rallied strongly with targets by Raphinha, Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres, handing Madrid their first La Liga defeat in additional than three months with a powerful 3-1 end result.
How did Atletico and Barcelona attain the semifinals?
Atletico Madrid superior to the final 4 of the Copa del Rey with an emphatic 5-0 win at Actual Betis as new signing Ademola Lookman scored on his Rojiblanco debut.
Targets by Lamine Yamal and Ronald Araujo helped Barcelona attain the semifinal with a nervy 2-1 win at Albacete. The defending champions had been pushed to the top in a decent quarterfinal conflict by their second division opponents, who shocked Actual Madrid within the earlier spherical.
Head-to-head
Barcelona and Atletico have confronted off 249 occasions in official competitors with the primary match courting again to April 19, 1925, within the Copa del Rey.
Blaugrana holds the head-to-head benefit with 113 victories in contrast with Madrid’s 79 wins with 57 attracts.
Atletico’s staff information
Supervisor Diego Simeone could also be with out duo Marc Pubill (sickness) and Nicolas Gonzalez (bodily discomfort). Each are listed as questionable, and both might nonetheless play a component in opposition to Barca.
Johnny Cardoso is out after the American sustained a low-grade muscle damage coaching earlier than Thursday’s Copa del Rey quarterfinal in opposition to Actual Betis.
Midfielder Pablo Barrios stays on the sidelines with a thigh damage.
Predicted lineup (4-4-2):
Oblak (goalkeeper); Llorente, Pubill, Hancko, Ruggeri; Simeone, Mendoza, Koke, Baena; Griezmann, Lookman
Barcelona’s staff information
In a last-minute blow, Marcus Rashford is out of the Atletico conflict after receiving a knee knock throughout Barcelona’s 3-0 win over Actual Mallorca on Saturday, in response to the official FC Barcelona web site.
Head coach Hansi Flick is also with out Frenkie de Jong (groin), who’s listed as uncertain. Teenager Marc Bernal could be the most probably alternative for the Dutchman within the central midfield position.
Brazilian celebrity Raphinha (thigh damage) is near a return however will miss this fixture. Pedri (hamstring) and Gavi (knee) proceed to be sidelined with longer-term accidents.
Predicted lineup (4-3-3):
J Garcia (goalkeeper); Kounde, Cubarsi, E Garcia, Balde; Olmo, Bernal, Lopez; Yamal, Lewandowski, Torres
Type Information:
Atletico Madrid: W-L-D-W-L (all competitions, most up-to-date end result final)
Barcelona: W-W-W-W-W
Which staff has received essentially the most Copa del Rey titles?
- Barcelona: 32
- Athletic Bilbao: 24
- Actual Madrid: 20
- Atletico Madrid: 10
- Valencia: eight
Is the Copa del Rey the oldest Spanish competitors?
Sure. Based in 1903 and organised by the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation, the Copa del Rey is the oldest Spanish soccer competitors performed at a nationwide stage.
The Copa del Rey winners qualify for the following season’s UEFA Europa League. If the winner has already certified for Europe via their La Liga ladder place, the Europa League spot is awarded to the following highest positioned staff that has not but certified.
