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Another El Clasico looms in the horizon as Real Madrid and Barcelona gear up to face each other in the second leg of the Copa Del Rey Quarter-finals at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night. The task is an uphill one for Mourinho’s men, who lost the first leg despite getting an early lead, with Carles Puyol and Eric Abidal cancelling out Cristiano Ronaldo’s opener. Madrid in fact lost even their last league encounter against the Catalans, with Barcelona running out 3-1 winners at the Bernabeu last month, with Alexis Sanchez, Xavi and Cesc Fabregas ensuring the victory after the visitors had been pegged back by Karim Benzema after just one minute.

Madrid have been in turmoil since losing the 1st leg, with the fans and media getting on the back of Jose Mourinho for his negative tactics while there have also been reports of clashes between the manager and his players. Both sides sealed 4-1 victories over the weekend, with Barca's win coming away to Malaga while Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao at home.

Barcelona

Barcelona will undoubtedly be the favourites to progress after having scored a victory at the Bernabeu. The Catalans are bound to be far more relaxed than the visitors, especially with 2 away goals to their name.

Pep Guardiola’s men rely heavily on retaining possession and the aim will once again be to hold on to the ball as long as possible. Barcelona are the best passers in the game and they will once again fancy themselves against Jose Mourinho’s men, who tend to defend very deep when under pressure.

As always, Lionel Messi will be the main man for the Catalans and his immense creativity coupled with his dribbling skills will certainly cause Madrid all sorts of problems. Xavi too will be crucial as he will pull the strings from the midfield. Another key player will be Cesc Fabregas. The former Arsenal man is a threat with his ability to make late runs and find the back of the net, even through headers.

Barcelona though will have to be on their guard while going forward because of the potency of Madrid’s counter attacks. For this reason, Pep Guardiola may just instruct his full backs to not venture forward often in order to protect his side in case they lose possession while attacking. But Dani Alves will bomb down the right from his usual wing-back position, leaving the rest of the defence and Sergio Busquets to sit behind the play.

The players who will miss this match are Seydou Keita, Ibrahim Afellay and David Villa, all of whom are out with injuries.

Real Madrid

For the umpteenth time, Madrid came up short against their arch-rivals as the Catalans gradually wore down their opponents to take a lead into the 2nd leg. This signal was supposed to represent the shift in power from Catalunya to the Capital city. But Madrid's continued failure against their bitter rivals hasn't gone down well with the fans, who resorted to booing Mourinho during the game against Bilbao.

Real Madrid’s strength lies in their counter attacking capability. They have ample pace and will once again look to catch Barcelona on the break. Cristiano Ronaldo will be the main weapon for Jose Mourinho and will again be looking to use his pace to exploit the hosts and find the net like he did in the first leg.

However, Mourinho’s tactics will have a huge bearing on the composition of the side and one can only hope that he picks a more attacking lineup as compared to the first leg. Karim Benzema too will be an important clog in Madrid’s wheel and he will have to ensure that he converts the chances that come his way, especially against a Barca defence that is very hard to break down.

Madrid’s weakness though will be their defence. They were surprisingly troubled from set pieces against the Catalan giants last time around and will need to iron out their weaknesses in that department. The defenders will also have to keep Lionel Messi quiet, a task easier said than done. Another avenue that could possibly cause some tension will be the inclusion of Pepe, who was accused of deliberately stepping on Messi’s hand in the first leg.

Among the players who will be expected to miss this match are Nuri Sahin, Ricardo Carvalho, Sami Khedira and Angel Di Maria.

Head-to-Head:

18^th Jan, 2012: Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona

10^th Dec, 2011: Real Madrid 1-3 Barcelona

Form Guide:

Real Madrid: WLWWW

22nd Jan, 2012: Real Madrid 4-1 Athletic Bilbao
18th Jan, 2012: Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona
14th Jan, 2012: Mallorca 1-2 Real Madrid
10th Jan, 2012: Malaga 0-1 Real Madrid (Copa del Rey)
7th Jan, 2012: Real Madrid 5-1 Granada

Barcelona: WWWWD

22nd Jan, 2012: Malaga 1-4 Barcelona
18th Jan, 2012: Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona
15th Jan, 2012: Barcelona 4-2 Real Betis
12th Jan, 2012: Osasuna 1-2 Barcelona (Copa del Rey)
8th Jan, 2012: Espanyol 1-1 Barcelona

Probable Line-up:

Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal, Xavi, Fabregas, Iniesta, Busquets, Messi, Sanchez.

Barcelona will deploy a 4-3-3 lineup with Lionel Messi, Alexis Sanchez and Cesc Fabregas upfront. Behind them will be Xavi and Andres Iniesta while Sergio Busquests will be required to break up play in his defensive role. The defence is likely to see Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol at the centre with Dani Alves and Eric Abidal out wide.

Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Casillas, Arbeloa, Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo, Diarra/Coentrao, Alonso, Ronaldo, Ozil , Callejon/ Higuain, Benzema.

Madrid are likely to stick to their 4-2-3-1 lineup, with Alvaro Arbeloa and Marcelo deployed on the wings and Sergio Ramos and Pepe at the centre. Xabi Alonso will be certain to start in the midfield, with either Lassana Diarra or Fabio Coentrao assisting him. Ahead of them will be the trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil and Jose Callejon although Gonzalo Higuain could also be handed a start. Karim Benzema meanwhile will be expected to lead the line.

Prediction: Although Madrid might attack much more this time around, one fails to see them beat Barcelona at the Camp Nou. The most probable result is a draw or a narrow loss to Madrid, that will see Pep Guardiola’s men progress to the next round.

Predicted Scoreline: Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid

File Photograph Copyright: Darz Mol