After collecting the first trophy of the season, FC Barcelona now travel to Ceuta, an autonomous city that despite being politically part of Spain is geographically surrounded by Morocco. Having had a narrow escape against another third tier side, Intercity, in the previous round of the Copa del Rey, Xavi and his side will be aware of the dangers of facing lower division sides, especially when it is the smaller club that has the home advantage.
The Alfonso Murube is sure to be packed to the rafters for this Thursday 8pm CET kick-off. In an unsual expedition, the squad will be flying first to Malaga and then crossing the Med in a helicopter.
Ceuta
The home side are having a dismal season, with nine points fewer than any other team in their division, the same third tier that Barça Athlètic play in, albeit in the other geographical group. But in stark contrast to their league form, they are the only remaining side in the Copa del Rey from outside of the top two divisions in the Spanish pyramid, and they did that thanks to a 1-0 defeat of La Liga side Elche last week.
Ceuta is not a new experience for Barça. This is the third time this century that they have been drawn against them in the cup, most recently in 2010, when Barça won 7-2 on aggregate
Team news
Given the change in format of the Copa del Rey a number of years ago, this game will be one-legged tie, so Xavi chose to bring almost all his first-team squad with the aim of securing qualification for the quarterfinals.
The full 22-man squad on the trip is as follows: Ter Stegen, Bellerín, Sergio, O. Dembélé, Pedri, Lewandowski, Ansu Fati, Ferran, Iñaki Peña, Christensen, Marcos A., Jordi Alba, Kessie, S. Roberto, Raphinha, Kounde, Eric, Balde, Gavi, Pablo Torre, Arnau Tenas and Alarcón.
Xavi says
"We have the experience of Intercity, who made things very difficult for us. We really need to make our superiority show."
"I remember the game there when I was a player. The trip there was difficult and it made me feel really sick. We won but it wasn't easy. We're going to need all five of our senses tomorrow."