FC Barcelona announce squad for Copa del Rey semi-final second leg against Real Madrid

The next Barcelona match is upon us! The Blaugrana fight for a spot in the Copa del Rey Final in the second leg of their semi-final tie against Real Madrid, and Xavi Hernández has called up the following 22 players for Wednesday’s El Clásico:

Goalkeepers: 1. Marc-André ter Stegen, 13. Iñaki Peña, 36. Arnau Tenas

Defenders: 4. Ronald Araujo, 17. Marcos Alonso, 18. Jordi Alba, 23. Jules Kounde, 24. Eric García, 28. Alejandro Balde

Midfielders: 5. Sergio Busquets, 19. Franck Kessie, 20. Sergi Roberto, 29. Marc Casadó, 30. Gavi, 32. Pablo Torre, 40. Aleix Garrido

Forwards: 9. Robert Lewandowski, 10. Ansu Fati, 11. Ferran Torres, 22. Raphinha, 38. Angel Alarcón, 39. Estanis Pedrola

Xavi continues to deal with important absences and four of his key starters will miss the final Clásico of the season as Frenkie De Jong (hamstring), Pedri (hamstring), Andreas Christensen (calf) and Ousmane Dembélé (thigh) are all out due to injury. There is some good news as Raphinha returns from suspension, and there’s a big youth movement again as Barça Atlétic and under-19 stars Marc Casadó, Pablo Torre, Aleix Garrido, Angel Alarcón and Estanis Pedrola are called up to offer depth in midfield and attack.

Predicted starting XI (4-3-3):

Ter Stegen; Araujo, Kounde, Alonso, Balde; Kessie, Busquets, Roberto; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Gavi

The match kicks off at 9pm CET (Barcelona), 8pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 12.30am IST (India, Thursday), and you can join us to follow and comment all the action.

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