Barcelona v Real Madrid: who will be the strongest at Camp Nou?

Athletistic/ Football. On April 5, in the second leg of the semi-finals of the Spanish Cup, Barcelona will play with Real Madrid. The starting whistle at Camp Nou will sound at 22:00 Moscow time.

Barcelona–Real Madrid

On Wednesday, April 5, Barcelona will host Real Madrid at home in the second leg of the Copa del Rey. The first game took place in March and followed a very strange storyline. Xavi surprised Carlo Ancelotti using the Real Madrid tactic. Barcelona gave the ball to Madrid and acted as the second number in a foreign field. The Catalans counterattacked with great skill, but after the break they hardly thought about attacking. Real set an anti-record, left without shots on target. That hadn’t happened for thirteen years. After that, the giants had another El Clasico in the Spanish league. It decided the fate of La Liga and also ended in favor of Barcelona. There, the Catalans already had the ball and the initiative. In 2023, Barcelona also beat Real Madrid in the Super Cup. So far, Xavi dominates the confrontation with Carlo Ancelotti. The weekend La Liga leaders had fun in the game with Elche. The game with the worst team in La Liga ended in a 4-0 defeat. He broke Lewandowski’s goalless streak, scored Fati for the first time in six months, Ferran Torres stood out for his high quality play. Barcelona are preparing for the Cup in good spirits. A little overshadow the injury situation. De Jong, Christensen, Pedri and Dembele will definitely not play against Real Madrid. At the same time, Busquets received the right to rest with Elche. The key midfielder will be able to enter the pitch. Real Madrid locally overtook Barcelona on the last lap. Valladolid fell under Madrid’s warm hand. The underdog received six unanswered goals. Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick in one half. This is the first time in the career of a Frenchman that this has happened. From a tournament point of view, the game didn’t matter, but the morale of the club was lifted. Real Madrid’s main problem is defence. Ancelotti will not be able to count on Rudiger and Mendy. Both defenders were out almost until May. Real Madrid have only been second to Barcelona in their last 10 matches. At the same time, there were objective difficulties in the attack. For example, the team distributed a segment with a goal in three meetings. The match with Valladolid in this case is not very revealing. The adversary is not up to it. Either way, Madrid will be forced to open up in the away format. Barcelona are unlikely to decide on a second game on a defensive strategy. For the first Cup victory without possession of the ball, the team was criticized even by its own fans. The most striking Clasico of the season is looming. At the same time, bookmakers give equal quotes for the total, which you can use. Only twice in the last ten head-to-heads have opponents gone through a baseline scenario. Both cases were in Madrid. On the Barcelona field, the clubs generally exchange the goals scored.

Also on April 5 will be the match of the 25th day of the Premier League between Manchester United and Brentford.

Manchester United–Brentford

Manchester United have been so swept up in recent weeks by cup successes both on the European and domestic stages that they have had problems in the domestic league. At the beginning of March, the Red Devils were being talked about as a team capable of interfering with the competition between Manchester City and Arsenal in the fight for the title, and now Eric ten Hag’s quarters do not seem too confident in the competition for a place in the TOP-4. Before the start of the season, Brentford were considered by many analysts and fans to be one of the main candidates for relegation, but now we can say that the “bees” have confounded the doubters. Now, the London club is nothing to fight for survival, but could well feature in the next draw of the Conference League. Before the match at Old Trafford, the bookmakers determined that the home team was the favorite, the victory of which can be chosen with a coefficient of 1.65. Manchester United is already the club that won the first trophy of the season. The English League Cup was won by the Mancunians in the last encounter in February, and a week later trouble began in the Red Devils camp. The defeat at Anfield with the score of 0:7 shook the confidence of the players of Erik ten Hag, who for some unknown reason skipped the league matches. Between the following rounds, in which Manchester United drew with Southampton (0-0) and lost to Newcastle United (0-2), three FA Cup and Europa League games, in which the Mancunians have Confidently beat Betis (twice) and Fulham (FA Cup). Brentford, after the season resumed in December, have featured in thirteen Premier League matches, following which they have lost only a modest Everton this season. In the rest of the matches, the “bees” won six times and drew six times, taking points from Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Brighton. It is the latter that Brentford is now pursuing in the hope of gaining access to European positions. Manchester United players no doubt remember the pogrom of the London club in the first round of the championship with the score of 4-0, so they are listening to solve two problems at once: return the “debt” and interrupt their own series of failures. In their arena, the Mancunians will win.