Predicted XI

Pedri and Messi to start? How Barcelona could line up in Spanish Cup clash with Granada

Ronald Koeman will be hoping his side can avoid Real Madrid's fate and progress to the semi-finals of the Spanish cup without too much bother

12:30pm on Tuesday 2nd February 2021
By Stefan Bienkowski

Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman will be hoping to avoid any potential banana skins when his side travel to Granada quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday evening.

The Dutch manager’s side have been in impressive form in La Liga, with an unbeaten run that now stretches to 10 games. However, that’ll mean very little on Wednesday in this one-off cup tie that’ll surely come down to how many of Barca’s stars are willing to show up and put in a good performance.

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Koeman is likely to stick with the same back line that beat Athletic Bilbao on Sunday afternoon, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen between the posts and a back four of Jordi Alba, Samuel Umtiti, Ronald Araujo and Oscar Mingueza at right-back.

In the middle of the park Koeman is likely to turn to his compatriot Frankie de Jong to once again oversee proceedings, with central midfield playmaker Miralem Pjanic alongside him in a midfield duo.

Following his goal against Athletic, we should expect to see Antoine Griezmann take up his usual spot on the left flank, with Ousmane Dembele on the right. Through the middle, Koeman is likely to stick with 18-year-old star Pedri as Lionel Messi takes his usual place up front as Barcelona’s talisman.