Valencia vs Barcelona

Estadio de Mestalla sets the stage for a handsomely-looking Copa del Rey quarter-final tie between Valencia and Barcelona.

Less than a fortnight after slumping to a humiliating 7-1 defeat in Catalonia, Valencia welcome Barcelona at Mestalla, seeking a place in the Copa del Rey semi-finals for the first time since 2021/22. However, that disastrous result on Barca’s temporary home ground forms part of Valencia’s dreadful ten-game winless H2H run (D2, L8). ‘Los Che’ can take heart from winning back-to-back home outings in the build-up to this fixture, meaning they could make it three victories in a row for the first time since March 2021. That could be easier said than done, considering Valencia’s last home win against Barcelona dates back to January 2020. Since then, they have lost four out of five matches against this opposition at Mestalla (D1), netting one goal or fewer in the last four.

Meanwhile, Barcelona squeaked past La Liga minnows Deportivo Alaves 1-0 last weekend to get their faltering title bid back on track, extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to nine games (W7, D2). They embarked on this streak with a 5-1 demolition of lower-league Barbastro in this tournament before humbling Real Betis 4-0 in the previous round to inch closer to their first Copa del Rey title since 2021. ‘Los Blaugranas’ should be confident of reaching the semi-finals despite hitting the road as they’ve not lost any of their last nine away matches (W6, D3). Moreover, Hansi Flick’s charges have failed to get on the scoresheet only once on their 19 road trips this season, with eight seeing Barcelona score 3+ goals.