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Granada vs Barcelona

 Granada and Barcelona will both be aiming to book a spot in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey when the two sides lock horns at the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes on Wednesday evening.

The hosts thrashed Navalcarnero 6-0 in the last 16 to set up a tie with Barca, who overcame Rayo Vallecano 2-1 in their most recent cup outing.

Even with a much-changed team, Granada barely needed to get out of second gear to teach Navalcarnero a footballing lesson, as six goals from six different scorers ensured that Diego Martinez's men are still in with a shout of silverware.

However, Granada were not able to follow that goal-laden performance up with a win against Celta Vigo, who managed to hold the Europa League contenders to a goalless stalemate at the weekend, meaning that Martinez's side are now winless in three La Liga matches.

The hosts' dip in form has come at the worst possible time with Atletico Madrid and two Europa League ties with Napoli lying in wait this month, and Granada are facing an uphill battle to match their 2019-20 Copa del Rey performance, where they were dumped out of the semi-finals by Athletic Bilbao.

Lionel Messi's future will continue to dominate the headlines so long as he continues to ply his trade at Camp Nou, but the Argentine was in the news for the right reasons after notching up his 650th goal for the club against Athletic at the weekend.

It was the perfect response from a player who was given his marching orders against the same opponent in the Spanish Super Cup only a couple of weeks before, and Messi's sublime free kick sent Barca on their way to a 2-1 revenge win over the Super Cup champions on Sunday.

Granada will welcome Yan Eteki back from suspension for this showdown, and the midfielder could slot straight back in after Yangel Herrera tested positive for coronavirus.

Neyder Lozano and Maxime Gonalons are both injured, and the hosts are otherwise in good shape heading into the quarter-final, but Martinez still has some big calls to make given the calibre of opponent.

Alberto Soro and Roberto Soldado will hope to earn starts after finding the back of the net against Navalcarnero, while second-choice goalkeeper Aaron Escandell could be given the nod once again.

Barcelona lynchpin Sergio Busquets is back from suspension for this tie and is expected to reprise his regular spot in the engine room - potentially in place of Frenkie de Jong.

Sergi Roberto is back after a lengthy layoff and could slot in at right-back over Oscar Mingueza - a centre-back by trade - and Sergino Dest has also been included in the squad after overcoming an injury.

Koeman will put out a strong team but is likely to make changes regardless, with NetoClement LengletRiqui Puig and Martin Braithwaite all hopeful of earning starts, but there is no place for Junior Firpo in the squad.

Granada possible starting lineup:
Escandell; Diaz, Duarte, Perez, Neva; Eteki, Montoro; Soro, Vico, Machis; Soldado

Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Neto; Roberto, Araujo, Lenglet, Alba; Busquets, Pjanic; Trincao, Puig, Messi; Braithwaite

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