Fresh from winning the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, FC Barcelona now head north to Cantabria to take on Racing Santander in the Copa del Rey. The 9pm CET kick-off at El Sardinero is a one-legged affair, with extra time and penalties if needed, and the prize for the winners in a place in the quarter finals of Spain's knockout competition.

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Racing recovering

It's been fourteen years since Barça last played Racing, a historic club that was among the founding members of La Liga in 1929 and that for most of its existence has been a top flight team. But following relegation in 2012, the club slumped into a financial and sporting crisis, dropping as low as the third tier of the pyramid. 

But a club as big as Racing was always likely to be back in La Liga one day, and they well be returning to the elite next season. They are currently top of the second division, level on points with Las Palmas.

But there is a long way to go yet in a very competitive division, and Racing's form has taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks. After drawing 1-1 with each of Leganés, Huesca and Valladolid, they lost 3-2 at home to Zaragoza at the weekend.

Cup journeys

But in the middle of that, they also managed to dump high-flying Villarreal out of the Copa del Rey. Having beaten Logroñés and Pontferradina in the previous rounds, this is Racing's best run in the competition since they reached the quarter-finals, back in the days when they were in the third tier of the league system.

The reward is a big test against FC Barcelona, against whom their record was anything but positive in their most recent seasons in La Liga. The Catalans won all seven of their most recent games with Racing, including a 2-0 win thanks to a Leo Messi brace on their last visit to El Sardinero. 

Due to their presence in the Spanish Super Cup, Barça only had to play one game to seal their place in the last 16. That was the one away to Deportivo Guadalajara in December, a far from comfortable affair that was eventually settled 2-0 thanks to goals from Andreas Christensen and Marcus Rashford.

That was part of what is now a run of ten straight wins for Barça across four different competitions, and they come into this fixture in especially buoyant mood after retaining the Super Cup trophy in Saudi Arabia thanks to an enthralling 3-2 victory over Real Madrid.

Team news

There's also a 'new' face in the Barça squad for this one. New in inverted commas because João Cancelo, who has arrived on loan from Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, has, of course, previously played for the club in the 2023-24 season. The Portuguese star may have only had three days to settle back into life in the Catalan capital, but coach Hansi Flick hinted on Wednesday that Cancelo may well feature in Santander.

The German was already without the injured Christensen and Gavi for this trip, and he's also leaving behind Frenkie de Jong, who is serving a suspension after getting red carded against Real Madrid.

With a crunch Liga match away to Real Sociedad to come on Sunday, followed by an equally important visit to Slavia Prague in the Champions League, it would be no surprise to see Flick rotate his resources a little for this one. With the incredible strength in depth of the squad at his disposal, he can certainly afford to do that with very little compromise in terms of quality.

Racing come into the game without the injured forward Asier Villalibre, and they may also have to make do without the man who scored both of their goals against Villarreal. Juan Carlos Arana didn't play at the weekend and may have to sit this one out too.

Despite winning the game, Racing coach Jose Alberto didn't field his strongest side against Villarreal, clearly more interested in his team's progress in the league than in a potential cup run. Whether he will also choose to deny key players the chance to measure up against Barça remains to be seen. One imagines he'll field his strongest team, but we'll have to wait and see.

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