Madrid, April 15 (IANS) Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo will miss the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium Wednesday night.
The Portuguese striker is struggling with a hamstring injury which was aggravated by problems in his left knee and the man, who scored the only goal when Real met Barca in the 2011 King’s Cup final, will have to watch from the stands, reports Xinhua.
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi will play but the big question mark surrounding is if he can return to form after two disappointing displays.
Messi was almost invisible in their Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid last week and was also a peripheral figure as they lost 0-1 in Malaga at the weekend, a result which means the Cup is virtually Barcelona’s only option of silverware this campaign.
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The Argentine’s drop in form has coincided with his side failing to score in two consecutive matches for the first time since 2008-2009. Under normal circumstances, the Catalans should be favourites. They have beaten Real Madrid twice in the La Liga this season, most recently last month in Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu here.
However, Messi’s loss of form is not Barcelona’s only problem as coach Tata Martino has to deal with a crisis which has left him without specialist central defenders. Gerard Pique is out with a cracked bone in his hip, Carles Puyol is down with a knee problem and Marc Bartra is suffering with a hamstring injury.
Meaning Alex Song, who struggled at Granada, and Javier Mascherano, who is weak in the air, look certain to repeat the partnership which looked far from convincing at Granada.
Ronaldo won’t be there for Real Madrid but Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Angel Di Maria pose a huge threat to the Barcelona defence with Sergio Ramos and Pepe optimistic they can make their rivals suffer from set pieces.
Martino’s main hope is that his midfield trio of Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez control midfield as they did last month.
But it seems unlikely Carlo Ancelotti will allow that as easily as he did a month ago when his 4-3-3 left Xabi Alonso exposed for pace. Expect Di Maria and Bale to drop slightly deeper to pressure the ball and then look to break at pace.
It should be tense and fascinating as most ‘Clasicos’ are but this time, despite the absence of Ronaldo, Real Madrid go into the game looking to have the edge.
