Barça vs Levante (2nd leg): Preview
Barça return home having to overcome a one-goal deficit to reach the quarterfinals
FC Barcelona vs Levante UD
Competition/Round: 2018-19 Copa del Rey, Round of 16 2nd leg
First leg result: Levante 2-1 Barcelona
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Malcom, Sergi Samper, Thomas Vermaelen, Samuel Umtiti, Rafinha (out)
Levante Outs & Doubts: Antonio Luna, Armando Sadiku (out)
Date/Time: Thursday, January 16, 2019, 9.30pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8.30pm GMT (UK), 3.30pm ET, 12.30pm PT (USA), 2am IST (India, Friday)
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Referee: José María Sánchez Martínez
How to watch on TV: beIN SPORTS (USA & Canada), others
How to stream: beIN SPORTS CONNECT (USA & Canada), others
After a comfortable league win at the weekend to lift the spirits, Barcelona return to Cup action on Thursday with the second leg of the Round of 16 against Levante. Barça were completely outplayed and lucky to escape with a 2-1 loss and an away goal, so it’s not the disaster scenario it was shaping up to be after Levante scored twice in the first 15 minutes.
The math is easy for Barça: win by 1-0, you advance thanks to the away goal. If Levante score, Barça need to win by two goals or more. Any other results favor the visitors. Ernesto Valverde called up all the big boys for this one, so expect Barça to come out looking to avenge last week’s loss and move on to the quarterfinals.
Let’s do this, boys.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-4-2): Cillessen; Semedo, Piqué, Murillo, Alba; Dembélé, Rakitic, Vidal, Coutinho; Messi, Suárez*
*Valverde tried this exact lineup, minus Murillo, in the final minutes against Eibar. There was no reason to be so attacking with the game over, so my guess is he was trying it out for this game.
Levante (5-3-2): Aitor; Coke, Cabaco, Postigo, Chema, Simon; Rochina, Prcic, Campaña; Boateng, Mayoral
PREDICTION
Let’s smash them, Hulk-style, and move on in style: 5-1 Barça. I don’t know why I’m this confident, but I am. Screw it.
Source: barcablaugranes.com
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