Fresh on the back of a Supercopa de España triumph against arch-rivals Real Madrid, Xavi’s Barcelona travel to face third-tier AD Ceuta in the Round of 16 of the Copa del Rey.
Xavi Hernandez bagged his first piece of silverware as Barcelona’s manager after brushing aside reigning La Liga champions Real Madrid. And the former Barcelona midfielder would be itching for further domestic success with the Catalans.
The Spanish heavyweights had a tough outing in the previous round of the competition when they just inched past a valiant Intercity team with a score line of 4-3.
The club would be hoping to improve on their previous performance to secure themselves a quarterfinal ticket.
The encounter against Ceuta could serve as the perfect opportunity for Xavi to rest some key players with a hectic season lined up for the Spanish team. The club would once again be dependent on the magical duo of Gavi and Pedri to run the show in the center of the park as they did against Los Blancos.
Next Match
The home side, Ceuta, would look to produce a shock of the tournament if they are able to defeat the Cules. The lowest-ranked team that is still alive in the competition, Jose Juan Romero’s men will give their full-on home turf facing the most successful team in the history of the tournament.
Although Ceuta enters the encounter as underdogs, the Caballas has been impressive at the Alfonso Murube Stadium losing just one game in their previous five fixtures, while also finding the back of the net in 16 out of 17 matches.
The 31-time champions, Barcelona, do enter the competition as favorites but AD Ceuta possesses all the arsenal to stun the footballing world with an upset.
AD Ceuta vs FC Barcelona confirmed line-ups
AD Ceuta XI (4-4-2): Mejias; Campos, Lopez, Gutierrez, Ahmed; Fernandez, Rodri, Adri, Gonzalez; Lafarge, Romero
FC Barcelona XI (4-3-3): Pena; Bellerin, Eric, Alonso, Alba; Kessie, Roberto, Torre; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Ferran
AD Ceuta vs FC Barcelona LIVE updates
FC Barcelona's upcoming fixtures
The Catalan giants continue their gallop toward their first La Liga title in four years as they host Getafe on the 22nd of January. Xavi’s men then travel away from home to lock horns with Girona and Real Betis on the 28th of January and the 2nd of February respectively.