Barcelona begin their copa del rey defense against third-tier guadalajara on tuesday night. Hansi flick has urged his players to approach the match with the right attitude despite being heavy favorites. The la liga leaders recently beat osasuna but were not at their best.
Barcelona head to guadalajara in castilla la-mancha for the copa del rey round of 32 on december 16, kicking off at 8pm uk time. The club, under hansi flick, aims to start their title defense strongly after establishing a four-point lead at the top of la liga with seven wins in their last eight games across all competitions.
Flick emphasized the importance of preparation and mindset in his pre-match comments. "It’s a game you have to win. We are favourites, but we have to be prepared and prove it on the field. Attitude is important and the players know it…how we start the game, how we are. These are the basics of this game," he said. Reflecting on recent progress, flick added: "In the last four weeks, players have been returning and we have been able to see the quality of the team. We have been making progress... We’re not done, we’re halfway there and we can do many things better."
Barcelona's weekend victory over osasuna was not their most convincing, prompting flick to push for improvements. He plans to rotate the squad, resting number one goalkeeper joan garcía and giving fringe players a chance. Wojciech szczęsny is recovering from a stomach upset, leaving marc-andre ter stegen as the likely starter. Robert lewandowski's involvement remains a game-time decision after he trained alone on monday. Gavi, dani olmo and ronald araujo are sidelined with injuries.
Guadalajara, struggling in their division, earned their spot with wins over cacereno and ceuta, plus a 1-0 victory against osasuna b on december 7. Their latest result was a 3-1 loss to real madrid b. This marks the first meeting between the teams.
Predicted line-ups: Guadalajara - zarco; ablanque, gallardo, neskes, calvo; alvarez, tavares, rodriguez, martinez, munoz; caropitche. Barcelona - ter stegen; kounde, christensen, martin, balde; casado, bernal, de jong, bardghji, fermin; rashford.
The match can be watched on premier sports or streamed via the app and bet365. Analysts expect barcelona to win comfortably, with squad players eager to impress.
