Spain - Copa del Rey - Semi-Final

12104 Valencia - 12105 Barcelona

Mestalla Stadium, Valencia, Spain

2-8-2018 - 3:30 pm ET

The famed Spanish Copa del Rey tournament continues play on Thursday, with Sevilla punching their card to the Finals with a 2-0 win over Madrid side Leganes, the remaining Semi-Final match up has all the makings of a instant classic in this historic competition.

Barcelona travel to the Mediterranean coast with intentions of progressing to yet another Cop del Rey finals, after adding Silverware too their trophy case last season.

Blaugrana are now content on repeating, while adding their 30th title in Spain's storied league cup tournament.

Barca have had a fairly smooth ride too the Semi's, after finding themselves down 1-0 in aggregate to cross town rivals Espanyol, the Spanish giants prevailed 2-0 in the second leg at Camp Nou while taking bragging rights in yet another Barcelona Derby.

Ernesto Valderde leads his super club to Mestalla looking to inch closer to his first title with his new club, after taking over the reigns with the sudden departure of Luis Enrique, Valverde  has pushed all the right buttons going undefeated in La Liga play, the former Barcelona player has earned his right to manage the Catalans in their pursuit for the treble.

Valverde returned to the Camp Nou with a simplistic approach by primarily playing out of a 4-4-2 formation, the Spanish head man was smart enough to give his Star player Lionel Messi as much freedom to roam and create while in their opponents side of the pitch as he so desires.

The little Argentine is a clear genius with the ball at his feet, he has no real weaknesses on the offensive end, with the ability too break down defenses with his magical dribbling and passing skills, he also can finish with the best known strikers in the world, with 29 Goals and 11 Assists in all competitions too start the 2017-2018 campaign, Messi must be considered as a Anytime Goal Scorer anytime he graces the pitch.

Barcelona have been less than effective finding the back of the net away from home during this competition, Barca are scoring an average of 1.3 Goals per match in their first 3 Copa del Rey road games.

The Barcelona defense has been stout to make up for the lack of scoring during this years tournament, only conceding a microscopic 0.7 Goals per match in their first 3 Copa del Rey road games.

Valencia enter this Semi- Final match in need of confidence, having held the Catalan giants to a slim 1-0 score-line in the first leg of this event, "Los Che" feel they have enough quality to really push the defending champs in the second leg on Thursday.

The Mediterranean side have found themselves struggling as of late in all competitions, having failed to register a win in their last 5 matches, they are keen on producing a positive result at Mestalla in front of their passionate fans.

"Marcelino" García Toral has continued to preach optimism among his coastal club, even though the Spanish manager is known for wearing squads down in the second half of season due to his rigorist training sessions, and his demanding views on players personal fitness.

The Valencia head man has also implemented a 4-4-2 formation with his arrival to Bat country, with a plethora of attacking options in the "Los Che" front-line, while using fast acting counter attacking football too their advantage, the home side are extremely dangerous while in the final third of the pitch.

"Rodrigo' Moreno, Santi Mina and Daniel Parejo will assume the bulk of the attacking responsibilities for the hosts, the trio are fully capable of getting on the score-sheet against the vaunted Barcelona back-line, while also giving the visitors additional worries with their play-making as they generate offense off one another, having netted a combined 27 Goals in all competitions, they hold the best chance to get "Los Che" to the Copa del Rey final.

Valencia have been dynamic while on their own pitch through tournament play, having scored an average of 3.3 Goals per match in their first 3 Copa del Rey games.

The Valencia defense has continued to answer all the questions asked of them while at the famed Mestalla, conceding a meager 0.7 Goals per match in their first 3 Copa del Rey home games.

Prediction:

Barcelona enter the match day knowing they hold the 1-0 advantage, while also totally owning the overall series advantage against the eastern foes, going undefeated in 23 of their last 25 matches in all competitions, while also being extremely effective during Copa del Rey play having avoided defeat in 32 of their last 34 games in the Spanish tournament.

Valencia will have to try and throw all the trends out as they look to make their own history, the hosts have clearly been better side while on their own pitch this season, having  scored in 12 of their 14 matches in all competitions while scoring an average of 2.3 Goals during that stretch of play.

"Los Che" will know they have to go forward in attempts to score in this fixture, they will have to attack Barcelona's weakness to stop skillful payers who can create their own offense, which Valencia possess a flock of those type of players all throughout their attacking half, expect the home side to run at the Barca back-line with their dangerous wingers early and often as the look to create opportunities to test the Blaugrana backup Goal Keeper, the hosts are also exceptional at launching long range shots, look for multiple shots on goal as the Barcelona defense will find themselves on the back-foot as the Bats attempt to keep the title dream alive.

Barcelona only know one way to play, even with a more defensive philosophy under Valverde, the visitors have too much attacking talent to just sit back and defend their slim 1 goal lead, with the likes of Luis Suarez, Paulinho, Coutinho and of course Lionel Messi in their ranks, to think the Catalans will not create their own chances on goal against this Valencia defensive alignment would be absurd, with such a dynamic array of offensive talent expect Barca to also go forward as this sets up for a explosive affair to round the remaining Semi-Final event.

Look for both clubs to hit the back of the net on Thursday, after seeing only 3 Goals scored in their first two meetings in all competitions this season, expect a more open game with goals being plentiful as both clubs will hold nothing back in their pursuit for Spanish silverware.

Tips:

Over  1.25  -115 / 1.87 - Total 1st Half Goals

Over  3  -125 / 1.8 - Total Full Game Goals

Both Teams To Score and Over 2.5 Goals  -125 / 1.8

Best Of Luck To All