Barcelona v Real Madrid Betting Preview
It is part two of the El Clasico Copa del Rey meeting at the semi final stage of the competition. The two Spanish giants played out a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu in the first leg, but then both of them surprisingly struggled in their Champions League matches recently. Barcelona have ascendency at the top of the Spanish top flight, but can Mourinho’s men cause an upset away from home?
Barcelona v Real Madrid Betting Odds at online bookmaker BetFred
Barcelona 8/13, Draw 16/5, Real Madrid 37/10
Barcelona v Real Madrid Recommended Bet:
There is usually some drama when these two sides come together. There is little love lost between them and usually things are pretty tight when they come together. The last eleven times that they have met (in all competitions) both sides have gotten on the scoresheet, so we can expect goals. Only in two of those last eleven meetings have games finished under 2.5 goals. Jose Mourinho will have a stronger squad to choose from than he did for the home leg at the end of January, and even then Real did very good through the centre of the park. They may well be sixteen points behind Barca in the league standings, but you don’t expect that that will have a big bearing in the outcome of this game. Competitive, this match should very well be. This will be the fifth meeting between the two giants this season already, with two draws and one win each (the wins coming at home for each in the two legs of the Spanish Super Cup at the start of the season).
Real Madrid have won just two of the last twelve meetings against Barcelona, the one win in the aforementioned Spanish Super Cup and then a big 2-1 victory on their way to the La Liga title last season at the Nou Camp. In their last four trips to the Nou Camp, Real Madrid have taken two 2-2 draws and two 3-2 defeats. So we are likely only going to be looking at fine margins. Form has been a little patchy for Madrid this season, but they have ran off three wins in a row in La Liga heading into this cup clash, sandwiched in between all that was a 1-1 home draw against Man United in the Champions League. Defensively, Madrid have conceded fewer than Barcelona this season. But it is Barca who top La Liga, dominantly so, having scored a massive 82 goals from just twenty five games. Lionel Messi has scored 38 of those league goals, and despite going missing against AC Milan in their 2-0 Champions League defeat at the San Siro, he was back in scoring action in the league, as Barca came from a goal down to beat Sevilla. Madrid also had to come from behind on the weekend to beat Deportivo.
Middlesbrough v Chelsea Betting Odds, Preview and Predictions
Barcelona are the Copa del Rey holders, thrashing Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in the final. The season before that, it was a massive battle between Madrid and Barca in the final of the Copa del Rey, Madrid running out 1-0 winners after extra time. Barcelona dumped Real Madrid out of the quarter finals of last year’s competition, 4-3 on aggregate. Expect a more intense game than the first leg. Barcelona do have an away goal and so Madrid will need to push for a goal, a dangerous thing against the Catalans. Expect Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to be scrapping it out for the limelight as well. Both have scored in three of the four El Clasico clashes this season (both failing to get on the scoresheet in the first leg). Either one are going to be worth a shot as First Goalscorer. The winner of the clash will face either Atletico Madrid or Sevilla in the final
Lionel Messi is 9/4 and Cristiano Ronaldo is 4/1 to be First Goalscorer at online bookmaker BetFred
Form
Barcelona DDWWLW, Real Madrid DLWDWW
Online bookmaker Promotion
The array of goal scoring talent that will be on show at the Nou Camp in midweek will again be enviable. Will Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo be the key to their respective sides’ success? Back a winning First Goalscorer bet at online bookmaker BetFred and if that selection goes on to score second in the game, then Betfred will double the odds. If the winning First Goalscorer selection scores three in the game, that’s treble the odds payout for you. Online bookmaker BetFred offer up to a free £50 bet as a welcome bonus for new customers registering an account.
