The most successful club in the history of the competition Barcelona starts its participation in the
Copa del Rey. The Catalan giants are travelling to Leon to face Cultural Leonesa in a first 1/16-
finals game from the competition. Let’s take a look at this clash in our soccer predictions for today.
How we said, Barcelona are ruling this competition in the last decade. Los Cules won the Copa del
Rey 6 times in the last 10 years. They also won it four consecutive times in the last four years.
Maybe you remember that at the end of the previous season Barca won the trophy after a
spectacular 5-0 win against Sevilla at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid.
Now the goal in front of the Catalans is clear – to make it 5 in a row in the tournament. But it won’t
be a walk in the park, of course. There are some really strong teams which would like to rival them
for the trophy.
Barcelona are in a really good mood at the moment. And they have some terrific reasons to feel
like this. Ernesto Valverde’s team is leading the La Liga standings 10 rounds played, having a point
more than Deportivo Alaves. In the previous round Barca also enjoyed an incredible joy in the El
Classico against Real Madrid, beating Los Merengues with 5-1 at the Camp Nou. They did it
despite of the absence of the superstar Lionel Messi, who is recovering from a hand injury
sustained in the match against Sevilla.
Barcelona had some tough time in La Liga, when Valverde’s team made a few consecutive games
without a win. Of course, there was no reason for panic, but the medias and the fans were worried
by Barca’s problematic form. Everything went good again with the win against Sevilla at the Camp
Nou, which was followed by wins over Inter in the Champions League and Real Madrid in El
Classico.
Against Real Madrid Barcelona showed everyone that they can be very good even without Leo
Messi. Luis Suarez scored a hattrick against Madrid, while Coutinho also played very good and
scored a goal. Having Messi in the starting eleven is always better, but Valverde and his players
can be proud of the way they handled the absence of the Argentine genius.
But who are Cultural Leonesa, which are the first obstacle in front of Barca in the Copa del Rey?
Cultural Leonesa reached the 1/16-finals of the competition after Lorca with 3-0 in the previous
round. Led by their manager Victor Cea, Cultural Leonesa achieved a very good win away from
home. Hugo Rodriguez opened the score for the visiting team, while Aridane made it 0-2. The last
goal in the game was scored by Adrian Mance, who made it 0-3 for the winning side.
Right now Cultural Leonesa are participating in Segunda B – the third tier of Spanish football. They
are currently 4th in the league standings, having won 19 points and having a record of 6 wins, 1
draw and 3 defeats.
Of course, Barcelona won’t play their best team against such a small opponent in this early phase
of the competition. We can expect that Ernesto Valverde is going to give a rest to key players like
Luis Suarez, Coutinho, Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Arthur.
Meanwhile players like Malcom, Ousmane Dembele, Munir, Denis Suarez, Arturo Vidal, Thomas
Vermaelen and Jasper Cillessen shall recieve a chance to play and prove themselves in front of
Valverde. That’s what we expect in our soccer predictions for today.
It’d be curious to see the Brazilian winger Malcom in action. He was signed for a lot of money from
Bordeaux in the summer, but for now Valverde is not trusting him. Malcom is rarely playing since
the start of the season and clearly he’s not having Valverde’s trust at the moment. But maybe these
are the type of matches which Malcom can use to prove his qualities and win more chances in
future.
The same could be said about one of the most expensive players in the history of Barcelona –
Ousmane Dembele. The French international was playing on a regular basis in the beginning of

the season, but lately Dembele is also spending more time on the bench. Just like Malcom,
Dembele must use every chance Valverde is giving him. He doesn’t have what else to do. He’s an
incredibly talented players, but a lot of people in Catalonia are talking that he has some problems,
regarded to his lifestyle. We don’t know for sure, but clearly there’s some reason why Ernesto
Valverde is not trusting him in every game Barca plays.
This is also a good chance for Arturo Vidal to show his qualities with the blaugrana shirt. The
Chilean was signed from Bayern Munich in the summer, but just like some other players, he’s
mostly starting games from the bench. Vidal already said that he’s not happy with his current
situation at the Camp Nou. But he doesn’t have what much to do, but to use every chance
Valverde is giving him. Vidal scored a goal against Real Madrid in the Classico and this was a
great moment for him. But now he’d have another chance to show his skills.
These are our soccer predictions for today for the Copa del Rey clash between Cultural Leonesa
and Barcelona. There’s no need to tell you that Barca are the big favourite here. We can expect to
see the Catalans getting a good advantage before the rematch at the Camp Nou. Barcelona’s
manager Ernesto Valverde will gave some playing time to players he’s rarely using since the start
of the season. This is what normally happens in this early phase of the competition. As for Cultural
Leonesa, for them it’s going to be a huge honour to face a club like Barcelona. Their chances to
win are pretty small, but you can be sure that they will give their best.