Espanyol vs Barcelona : today
Defending champions Barcelona will melakoni cons counter Espanyol in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey 2017/18. Barcelona will travel to RCDE Stadium in the first leg on Thursday.
Barcelona is more favored to qualify for the next round. The reason, Blaugrana have a very good record against rivals sekota.
In nine of the last knockout parties against Espanyol in the Copa del Rey, like a tradition, Barcelona always qualify for the next round. The last time Barcelona was eliminated by Espanyol in 1961 ago.
Prior to this, the last meeting of the second team in the Copa del Rey was presented in the 2015/16 season, while Barcelona were still coached by Luis Enrique. At that time, Barcelona won 4-1 at Camp Nou in the first leg through a brace of Lionel Messi and goals Gerard Pique and Neymar. Brace Munir El Haddadi at home to Espanyol ensured Barcelona won 2-0 and qualified with a 6-1 aggregate.
In La Liga this season, Barcelona have also met with Espanyol and show their superiority. Playing at Camp Nou on jornada 3, Ernesto Valverde's troops won 5-0 through Messi's hat-trick and goals from Pique and Luis Suarez.
Espanyol reached the quarterfinals after the Levante disaster with a 3-2 aggregate in the last 16. Meanwhile, Barcelona eliminated Celta Vigo with a 6-1 aggregate thanks to a 5-0 win at Camp Nou on the second leg.
the order of Players :
Espanyol (4-3-3): Diego Lopez; Javi Lopez, Duarte, Hermoso, Martin; Darder, David Lopez, Victor Sanchez; Baptistao, Gerard Moreno, Melendo.
Barcelona (4-4-2): Cillessen; Semedo, Pique, Vermaelen, Digne; Busquets, Rakitic, Denis Suarez, Paulinho; Messi, Luis Suarez.