Barcelona vs Real Madrid: It All Comes Down to the Two Spanish Giants in the Copa del Rey Final

It was meant to be. Barcelona had no trouble beating Almeria and now the only obstacle between the blaugrana and their 26th Copa del Rey title is José Mourinho's Real Madrid.

While the Copa del Rey might not be as important for Barcelona as La Liga and the Champions League, Barcelona play to win in every competition and every single match, especially if it's against Real Madrid, their eternal rivals.

El Clásico is the biggest football match in all of Europe and now there will be two in just four days: on April 17, Barcelona will play at the Bernabeu for La Liga and then on April 20, at Mestalla, they will once again face Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final.

Two Clásicos in four days are sure to delight football fans all over the world. There's still a lot of time left, but Barcelona's obvious goal is to win both matches. The La Liga match will probably be not-so-relevant (El Clásico is never totally irrelevant), since Barcelona will probably have the La Liga title pretty much guaranteed by then (unless they go through a very unexpected dip in form), but there'll be a trophy at stake in the Copa final.

Both Barcelona and Real Madrid have an insatiable hunger for trophies: Real have won 72 and Barcelona 70 in their illustrious history. On head-to-head, Real Madrid have won 83, while Barcelona have only won 81 (including the past five). Real have 228 goals and Barcelona 224. Historically, Real Madrid have a slight advantage in this particular rivalry, which is something that Pep Guardiola's Dream Team will be eager to change.

We're only in February and Barcelona lead La Liga with a clear seven point advantage, are in the Copa del Rey final against a team they annihilated in the league and are considered the team to beat in Europe.

Beating Real Madrid in the Copa final might be difference between winning or not winning the treble. Pep Guardiola has shown that he relies on all his players and has already announced that Barcelona's lineup for the Copa final will be Pinto + 10. Valdés will sit this one out.

Still, Barcelona fans have reasons to believe that by the end of the season Barcelona will have become the first club ever to win two trebles. It will undoubtedly be very difficult to achieve, but these players and staff have already shown that we can always expect the best of them.

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