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Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has named a strong squad for Wednesday’s Copa del Rey quarter-final clash at Granada. There’s no room for youngsters Ilaix Moriba and Konrad de la Fuente, who featured in previous rounds, while left-back Junior Firpo has also been left out.
Midfielder Sergio Busquets does return, after missing Sunday’s La Liga win over Athletic due to suspension, while right-back Sergino Dest is also back after recovering from a thigh injury.
Barca head to Los Carmenes on the back of a 10-match unbeaten run in La Liga. The run of games includes a 4-0 win away at Granada the start of January. The winners of Wednesday’s tie will qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament.
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Koeman Talks Granada
Koeman previewed Barca’s clash against Granada in his pre-match press conference and is expecting a tough test from Diego Martinez’s men.
It will be different from the league game because the cup is different. We have both played many games and it is a moment that physically we will have to be well to play our game. We expect a difficult match.
The Dutch coach also insisted the Copa del Rey was not the club’s top priority after slipping 10 points behind Atletico Madrid in the race for the league title in Spain.
No, it’s not more important. Any match is important because we’re Barca. But it’s true the Copa is closer to us. We have less matches to play, we have it within our reach although we have a complicated match ahead of us.
Atletico are very strong, it’s not normal they are so many points ahead, but we are going to try and win our matches and hope Atletico drop points and that’s all we can do.
Koeman is expected to name a strong starting XI for Wednesday’s match with a place in the last four up for grabs.
Koeman Happy With Messi Response
Captain Lionel Messi may lead the team out again with Koeman happy how the Argentine responded against Athletic on Sunday. The pre-match build-up was dominated by a report from El Mundo that leaked details of Messi’s contract at Barca.
Messi went on to score a brilliant free-kick in a 2-1 win to claim his 650th Barcelona goal, leaving Koeman more than satisfied with the Argentina international’s contribution.
I think it’s absurd we’re still talking about this issue three days on. The team and Leo responded in a way that I liked, trying to leave things that come out in the press to one side and focus on football. I am very happy with the team and how they’re working at the moment.
The 33-year-old also hit a double on his last visit to Granada last month and few would bet against Messi finding the back of the net again in the Copa del Rey. Messi is in a rich vein of form and has six goals in his last six outings in all competitions.
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