PREVIEW | FC Barcelona v Valencia

FC Barcelona visit Valencia in Thursday's Copa del Rey quarter final (9.30pm CET), less than a fortnight after humbling the same side 7-1 in a Liga fixture at the Estadi Olimpic.

Based on that result, Hansi Flick has every reason to feel optimistic that his team will be one of the four semi-finalists. But he will want his players to avoid being lulled into a false sense of security. Cup games are a very different breed, and this one is being played over a single leg at Mestalla, where Valencia have recently beaten both Real Sociedad and Celta.

Classic cup tie

This encounter is just the latest of a long history of cup clashes between these teams. They have met 20 times before in the competition, including four finals, and although Barça have emerged victorious the last three times and ten in total, Valencia have had their share of big moments too.

The curious thing is the remarkable number of times that the winner of this cup tie has gone on to lift the trophy. As well as the four finals (obviously), in nine of the other 16 crossings between these two teams, the side that advanced (more often than not Barça) was the eventual champion. Let's hope it happens again!

Valencia struggling

Despite winning their last two league games at Mestalla, Valencia are still second from bottom in the league table, and in very real danger of being relegated for only the second time in their history (the last time was in 1986).

However, the 7-1 crushing in Barcelona was a major blip in what has otherwise been a shift for the better under new manager Carlos Corberán. Since he took over at Christmas, the only other defeat was against Real Madrid when they were devastatingly unfortunate to be denied victory by conceding two late goals.

Indeed, the humiliation dished out at Montjuic could work against Barça here, as Valencia will be hungering to recover their lost pride. On the other hand, Corberán may feel that rather than the cup, the real priority right now is the need to preserve the team's first division status.

How they got here

This far, the draw has been somewhat kind to Valencia. Their cup run began with a narrow 1-0 defeat of sixth-tier Parla Escuela, then came a 3-1 win at fourth-tier Ejea, a 2-0 defeat of second division Eldense and finally a 2-0 win that ended the dream run of third-tier Ourense.

Due to their participation in the Spanish Super Cup, Barça entered the competition at a later stage, first beating fourth.tier Barbastro 4-0 and then that extraordinary 5-1 thumping of Real Betis.

The other quarter finals

Atlético Madrid booked their place in the semi-finals by crushing Getafe 5-0 at the Metropolitano on Tuesday, while Real Madrid saw off Leganés on Wednesday, albeit not without victory, the final goal of a 3-2 win coming in second half injury time.

The other semi-finalist will come out of the game between Real Sociedad and Osasuna that kicks off earlier on Thursday at 7.30pm CET.

Team news

Marc Andre ter Stegen and Marc Bernal remain out for what will probably be the rest of the season. Dani Olmo has been making good progress with his soleus injury and was able to join training this week, and may well even get to feature, but Andreas Christensen is still missing at the back.

Gavi gave us a shock at the weekend after a nasty head clash against Alavés, and although the good news is that there are no serious repercussions, he is being rested as a precautionary measure. Despite the importance of the match, Hansi Flick hinted before the game that he might opt to rest other players too, with such a packed schedule of games to get through.

Other than Portuguese right-back Thierry Correia, who is out for the season with a torn cruciate ligament, Valencia should have a full squad to choose from.

Hansi says

"The league game earlier this season in the Mestalla was tough and it was not easy with a tricky atmosphere. Tomorrow will be similar. Furthermore, it's a cup game: tomorrow we can't win the trophy but we can lose it and that is not what we want."

"The game will be completely different to the 7-1 win. We will give everything again and let's see what happens. They will press a lot and the fans will help them. The atmosphere will not be like the other day." FULL STORY HERE