Copa del Rey | Round of 16

Jan 15, 2025 at 8pm UK

Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys

Barcelona vs Betis

Match preview

Barcelona will be in celebratory mood after overcoming Real Madrid for the second time this season to win the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

The Blaugrana, who won the Clasico 4-0 in October, ran out 5-2 winners over their arch-rivals in Sunday's final despite conceding the first goal and playing over half an hour with 10 men.

Lamine Yamal produced a Messi-esque effort to cancel out Kylian Mbappe's opener before Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Alejandro Balde all found the back of the net to wrap up the trophy before the referee had even blown the half-time whistle.

Raphinha scored his second and Barcelona's fifth within three minutes of the restart, and although Rodrygo pulled one back following Wojciech Szczesny's red card, the Blaugrana saw out the rest of the game with minimal fuss to claim their 15th Spanish Super Cup.

Having secured the first trophy of the Hansi Flick era, the Catalan giants now return home for Wednesday's cup tie against Betis, where the hosts will face a much tougher test than in their 4-0 win over fourth-tier Barbastro.

Barcelona were held to a 2-2 draw away to Betis in the league in December, but they will take confidence from the fact that they have won the last two home encounters between the two sides, a 4-0 win in April 2023 and a 5-0 victory in September of the same year.

However, the Blaugrana have struggled at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in recent times, losing their last three home games since beating Brest 3-0 in the Champions League at the end of November.

While Barcelona will be favourites to progress from Wednesday's cup tie, Betis will be determined to spring a surprise and keep alive their hopes of winning the Copa del Rey for the fourth time in their history.

Los Verdiblancos kicked off their recent cup journey with wins over Gevora and Sant Andreu before edging past second-tier Huesca in the third round earlier this month, Isco scoring the decisive goal in a narrow 1-0 victory.

Unfortunately for Betis, they were on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline away to relegation-threatened Real Valladolid on Saturday.

Kike Perez's 58th-minute strike was enough to condemn Manuel Pellegrini's side to defeat, leaving them with just one win from their last eight La Liga games (D4, L3).

It was also their third defeat in four top-flight away games, leaving them 10th in the standings and five points adrift of the top six.

Betis will now put their underwhelming league campaign on hold to focus on Wednesday's trip to Catalonia, where the visitors will be looking to beat Barcelona for the first time since a 1-0 away win in La Liga in December 2021.

Victory on Wednesday would see Los Verdiblancos reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2021-22, when they won the Copa del Rey on penalties in the final against Valencia.

Recent Performance

Barcelona Copa del Rey form:W

Barcelona form (all competitions):WLLWWW

Real Betis Copa del Rey form:WWW

Real Betis form (all competitions):WWWDWL

Team News

Barcelona are still without goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and midfielder Marc Bernal, who are both out with long-term knee injuries.

Inigo Martinez has been added to Barcelona's list of absentees after being forced off in the first half of Sunday's Spanish Super Cup final with a hamstring injury.

Ronald Araujo is set to replace Martinez at centre-back, despite being linked with a move to Italian giants Juventus in the winter transfer window.

Flick will also be forced to make a change in goal, with Inaki Pena ready to deputise for Szczesny, who will serve a one-match ban following his dismissal against Real Madrid.

Meanwhile, Giovani Lo Celso will miss the midweek cup tie after picking up a muscle injury in Saturday's defeat to Real Valladolid.

Defender Hector Bellerin and striker Chimy Avila are currently sidelined through injury, while midfielder William Carvalho remains on the sidelines.

Marc Roca and Pablo Fornals trained on Monday in a bid to prove their fitness in time for the matchday squad.

Barcelona loanee Vitor Roque started against his parent club in the league in December and could return to the starting line-up for Wednesday's clash after coming off the bench at the weekend.

Possible starting lineup

Barcelona possible starting lineup:

Pena; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Casado, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Lewandowski

Real Betis possible starting lineup:

Vieites; Ruibal, Llorente, Bartra, Perraud; Altimira, Cardoso; Ruibal, Isco, Ezzalzouli; Roque