02/10/2021 4:23 PM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 02/10/2021 4:23 PM
Barcelona, with Lionel Messi as captain, will visit Seville at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán stadium, which will feature Alejandro Papu Gómez, in the first leg of one of the semifinals of the Copa del Rey.
The duel will begin at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast on DirecTV Sports.
At this junction, two teams have been on a roll in recent weeks, but also decimated by injuries.
The Catalan team has accumulated six consecutive victories in the last 20 days.
The last was 3 to 2 against Betis on Sunday, also on Sevillian soil.
That day, Messi was a substitute, entered the second half and contributed a goal.
In the Copa del Rey, it comes from eliminating Cornellà, Rayo Vallecano and Granada, in all three cases playing as a visitor in single-match qualifiers.
The blaugranas traveled to Andalusia with a squad diminished by the injuries of Gerard Piqué, Sergi Roberto, Ansu Fati, Philippe Coutinho, Ronald Araujo, Sergiño Dest, Miralem Pjanic and Martin Braithwaite.
The string of absences once again forces Ronald Koeman to dip into the starting lineup.
For its part, Sevilla accumulates seven consecutive wins (six without conceding goals) between the Spanish League and the Copa del Rey.
On Saturday they thrashed Getafe 3-0 in a match in which they lost Lucas Ocampos, who suffered a sprained left ankle as a result of a blow by Togolese defender Djené Dakonam and must remain inactive for at least three weeks.
The local also does not have Marcos Acuña, Jesús Navas and Óscar Rodríguez, also injured.
Lionel Messi will play his 900th game against Sevilla as a professional footballer.
(Photo: Raúl Caro / EFE)
Barcelona was a finalist in eight of the last 10 editions of the Copa del Rey.
In this period he obtained five of the 30 titles that he holds in this contest.
Sevilla, winner of the trophy on five occasions (the last, in 2010), is trying to reach its third final in the last six years.
The rematch of this duel will be on Wednesday March 3 at the Camp Nou.
In the other semifinal, Athletic de Bilbao will host Levante on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. in San Mamés (the revenge will be on Thursday, March 4).
The final of this tournament is scheduled for Saturday, April 17 at the La Cartuja stadium in Seville.
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