Real Madrid and Barcelona put aside their La Liga title race as they gear up for a Copa Del Rey quarter-final showdown on Thursday. With the Catalans looking slightly off colour in recent weeks, Real Madrid will fancy their chances of coming out on top having already won at the Santiago Bernabeu earlier in the season.
Real Madrid saw off another of their rivals in the previous round of the Copa Del Rey as they claimed a 3-1 extra-time victory over Atletico Madrid. They fought back from a goal down with Rodrygo, Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior getting the goals.
Los Blancos appear to be returning to their best form after a poor run that dented their La Liga title defence. They have claimed five wins and a draw in their last six matches across all competitions, a run that includes a 5-2 Champions League victory at Liverpool.
Having already beaten Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu this season, Real Madrid will be relying on their solid home record on Thursday. Although they were held to a 1-1 draw by Atletico Madrid last Saturday, Carlo Ancelotti’s men are unbeaten at home across all competitions this season.
Barcelona booked their place in Thursday’s clash thanks to a 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad in the previous round. Despite being reduced to 10 men, Sociedad made things difficult for the hosts with Ousmane Dembele’s second half effort proving the difference.
While Barcelona are still setting the pace in La Liga, they appear to have slightly lost their way in recent weeks. They have claimed just one win from their last four matches across all competitions and travel to Madrid off the back of two straight defeats.
The problem for Barcelona is that both defeats have come on their travels. First they were beaten 2-1 at Manchester United to crash out of the Europa League before losing 1-0 to struggling Almeria in La liga last Sunday.
How the bookies view it
Real Madrid have the upper hand among the bookies with a home win priced at evens with Unibet. A victory for Barcelona is valued at 3/1 by bet365 while a draw is set at odds of 5/2 by Paddy Power.
Recent head to head
Real Madrid and Barcelona have claimed one win each in their two meetings this season with both matches ending 3-1. The Catalans defeated their rivals to win the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia while Los Blancos were victorious in the La Liga meeting at the Santiago Bernabeu back in October.
Players to watch
Karim Benzema scored in both meetings with Barcelona and will be the one to watch for Barcelona once again. The French striker has also found the net five times in his last four appearances across all competitions and is priced at 6/5 with Paddy Power to maintain his scoring run.
Robert Lewandowski has two Copa Del Rey goals this season and continues to deliver the goods for Barcelona. The Polish striker was also on target in the Spanish Super Cup win over Real Madrid and could be backed to find the net on Thursday at 11/8 with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
Real Madrid and Barcelona boast plenty of attacking quality and have shown it in their meetings this season, producing over 3.5 goals in both matches. A similar outcome is priced at 9/4 with Unibet while over 2.5 goals is valued at 4/5 with Paddy Power.
Real Madrid have scored in both halves in four of their last six matches and Thursday’s clash could be set to follow a similar pattern at 41/20 with Unibet.
This Spanish Cup match between Real Madrid and Barcelona will be played on Mar 2, 2023 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Real Madrid vs Barcelona prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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