Elche v FC Barcelona: Match preview

Elche v FC Barcelona: Match preview

Sitting on a comfortable 5-0 lead, Luis Enrique is likely to field an experimental side in Thursday's second leg

With a five goal lead from the first leg, Barça travel to Elche on Thursday night for the second leg of their Spanish Cup round of 16 tie (10.00pm CET) with the clear objective to maintain the positive buzz around the team following their last two wins.

Team News

Luis Enrique has named Adama, Halilovic, Munir, Ié, Diagné and Gumbau in his squad for the second leg. He has decided to rest Bravo, Alba, Alves, Mascherano, Sergio, Iniesta, Messi, Neymar and Suárez, as well as the injured Xavi and Vermaelen

View from the dugout

Luis Enrique explained in Wednesday’s press conference that he’d like to give as many of his B team youngsters and fringe players a run out against Elche, whilst revealing Xavi is still recovering and would not be risked for the match. Six B team players trained with the first team squad ahead of the game on Wednesday

Form Guides

Barça followed up last week’s first leg rout with perhaps their most impressive performance of the season so far by beating Atlético Madrid 2-1 on Sunday night, while Elche pulled off one of the upsets of the weekend beating Athletic Bilbao 1-2 at the new San Mamés to take them off the bottom of La Liga.

Ones to watch

The players in the spotlight will clearly be the six reserves in the team. This is the first call-up to the first team for midfielder Gerard Gumbau since his arrival from Girona in July 2014. Diawandou Diagne of Senegal was included in the squad that beat Huesca 8-1 at the Camp Nou but didn’t get off the bench, while tonight could also see the long-awaited first team debut of Alen Halilović, the teenage sensation who became the youngest ever debutant for the Croatia national team against Portugal in June 2013.

What next?

If, as expected, Barça make it through to the next round, they’ll face either Atlético Madrid or Real Madrid, with Simeone’s side going to Bernabéu 2-0 up from last week’s first leg – that game kicks off a couple of hours before Barça’s at 8.00pm (CET).

Coverage

The game is being shown live on TV3 in Catalonia, via beIN Sports Connect in the USA and on Sky Sports in the UK.

When and where to watch the game

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