Preview: Copa del Rey - Barcelona vs. Real Madrid

By Liam Apicella, Features EditorPublished: 23 January 2012 6:56 PM

Jose Mourinho will need to win his first match as a manager in the Nou Camp if Real Madrid are to progress through in the Copa del Rey against Barcelona.

The quarter-final first-leg meeting between Barcelona and Real Madrid failed to buck the recent trend.

Madrid opened the scoring in the Bernabeu, but failed to hold out against their greatest rivals before falling to a 2-1 defeat.

All of which makes Barca favourites ahead of the second leg meeting on Wednesday evening.

Both managers named strong starting lineups for last week's El Clasico and the same is expected this time around.

Pedro is still struggling for fitness and is likely to miss the tie for Barca, while Real coach Jose Mourinho will have to chose whether he will pair Gonzalo Higuain up front with Karim Benzema.

Current form:

Barcelona: WDWWWW
Real Madrid: WWWWLW

Possible lineups:

Barcelona: Pinto; Adriano, Pique, Puyol, Alves; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas; Sanchez; Messi.

Real Madrid: Casillas; Marcelo, Pepe, Carvalho, Ramos; Ozil, Alonso, Diarra, Kaka; Ronaldo; Benzema.

Sports Mole says: 2-1