Real Madrid and Barcelona will renew their fierce rivalry this Thursday when both lock horns in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final at Santiago Bernabeu.
Seven points separate both sides in the La Liga title quest after dropping points at the weekend. While the hosts were held to a 1-1 draw against their fierce rivals Atletico Madrid, the visitors fell to a shock 1-0 defeat to relegation candidates AlmerÃa.
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Therefore, both sides will.be desperate to return to winning ways here and take the win in this first leg. Considering their form, Carlo Ancelotti’s side will be more confident of victory here, having won five in a row before their draw to Atletico last weekend.
Barcelona’s recent results have been poor. The visitors have lost their last two games, with the aforementioned defeat to AlmerÃa on Sunday coming after a 2-1 loss to Manchester United in the Europa League.
With just the Copa del Rey and La Liga title to look forward to now after crashing out of Europe, Xavi will be desperate for his side to keep their chances of winning at least one extra trophy alive after their Super Cup win earlier in the year.
Given their history in this fixture, they will fancy their chances here as they’ve lost none of the last five away H2Hs in this competition (W2, D3).
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