Preview | Rayo Vallecano v FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona continue their pursuit of another Copa del Rey title, this time against Rayo Vallecano in the Round of 16.
The tie will again be a one-legged affair, with Barça hoping for the same outcome as against Cornellà in the last round.
Did you know?
Barça have qualified from the Copa del Rey Round of 16 in 21 of the last 22 editions (only losing to Sevilla in the 2010 edition).
Barça have won in 39 of the last 41 qualifying ties against Second Division opposition. They were only eliminated against Sevilla in the second round in 1973 and against Real Betis in the 1994 quarter-finals.
Pedri is the only Barça player this season who has given two assists in an away game.
Ronald Koeman (1L 1D) and Andoni Iraola (2D) have won eight of the ten games they have overseen as coaches in the Copa del Rey. The Dutchman won the cup on the only previous edition in which he contested it (2008 with Valencia), whilst the Basque reached the semifinals in his only experience in this competition (2020 with Mirandés).
When and where to watch
You can find a list of broadcasters showing the game here.
Don’t forget that full coverage of the game, including the build-up live from the stadium and post-match reactions, can be found in our Match Center on the Club's official website.
You will also find our minute-by-minute text updates, a link to listen to live English language commentary on Radio Barça and plenty more to keep you entertained!
And not forgetting the complete coverage available on our official social networks:
English: @fcbarcelona & www.fcbarcelona.com
Catalan: @fcbarcelona_cat & www.fcbarcelona.cat
Spanish: @fcbarcelona_es & www.fcbarcelona.es
French: @fcbarcelona_fra & www.fcbarcelona.fr
Portuguese: @fcbarcelona_br
Arabic: @fcbarcelona_ara
Turkish: @fcbarcelona_tr
Chinese: fcbarcelona.cn
Japanese: @fcbarcelona_jp & www.fcbarcelona.jp
Indonesian: @fcbarcelona_id
Precedents
It will be the second time Barça play Rayo in the Copa del Rey. The first came in the quarterfinals of the 1980/81 edition of the tournament. The two-legged tie saw the Catalans win 6-1 on aggregate.
Barça haven't lost at Vallecas since 2002. Since that 1-0 defeat, the blaugranes have won 13 in a row against Rayo, each win coming in La Liga.
The squad
Ronald Koeman has called up the following players for the match: Ter Stegen, R. Araujo, Sergio, Griezmann, Pjanić, Braithwaite, Messi, O. Dembélé, Riqui Puig, Neto, Lenglet, Pedri, Trincão, Jordi Alba, F. De Jong, Umititi, Junior, Ilaix, O. Mingueza and Arnau Tenas.
Dest, Piqué, Coutinho, S. Roberto and Ansu Fati won't play due to injury, while Matheus has been left out by the coach.