Barcelona face Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey on Thursday night but will be without 5 key players.
There has been no repeat Copa champion since Barcelona won it four years straight from 2015 to 2018 and as Barca head to Madrid they will have that statistic in the back of their minds.
Atletico will be aiming for revenge after last season’s elimination at the hands of the Catalan giants who are without a number of key players for the clash.
This includes Marcus Rashford (knee) who has 10 goals and registering 13 assists in 34 appearances in all competitions. The English star’s injury is not serious and is said to be only a bruise.
Raphinha (Hamstring strain) who has scored 13 goals and registered five assists in 22 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona this season is also ruled out as manager Hansi Flick relies on Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres.
Elsewhere, Andreas Christensen (ligament tear), Gavi (Arthroscopy) and Pedri (hamstring) are also missing as Flick aims to rotate his side who enter the game on the back of winning their last six matches in all competitions, scoring at least twice in each of those games.
Barcelona and Atletico have faced off 249 times in official competition, with the Catalan side holds the head-to-head advantage with 113 victories compared with Madrid’s 79 wins.
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