Can Philippe Coutinho get his much-awaited Barcelona debut on Thursday January 25 against cross-town rivals Espanyol? That remains to be seen as the former Liverpool star is named in the matchday squad for the Copa del Rey 2nd leg match.
Barca have to overcome a 0-1 deficit from the first leg.
With the action shifting to the grand Camp Nou in Barcelona, expect the home team to show up some magic in the evening.
Apart from the Brazilian Coutinho, another January signing Yerry Mina is also named in the 19-man matchday squad. Barca coach Ernesto Valverde is not going to take the match lightly by any means as the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are expected to start up front.
Barcelona are also boosted by the return of midfield maestro Andres Iniesta.
The exit of veteran defender-midfielder Javier Mascherano may have weakened the defence a bit, and Thomas Vermaelen injured as well, but the likes of Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti are expected to get the job done well for the home team in the centre of defence in the match.
Melendo remained the scorer for Espanyol in the first leg match and the Messi penalty miss also made embarrassing news worldwide. Are we going to see the same in the second leg?
May be not, but Espanyol still have the upper hand in this two-legged Copa del Rey quarter final match.
Expected starting 11
Barcelona : Cillessen; Roberto, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Paulinho, Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Suárez (Coutinho to come on in 2nd half).
Espanyol : Diego López; Navarro, Duarte, Naldo, Aarón; Da.López; Darder, Fuego, Sánchez, Granero; Gerard.
Barcelona vs Espanyol: 2nd leg
Date: January 25
Time: 8:30 pm GMT, 2 am IST - Friday
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona
TV listings: Not available (India, UK), beIN Sports, fuboTV (USA), Gol TV (Spain)
Live stream: beIN Sports Connect (USA), beIN Sports Connect Espana (Spain)
Radio commentary: Radio Barca
Live scores: Twitter (worldwide)
