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Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Real Madrid and Barcelona will renew their fierce rivalry this Thursday when both lock horns in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final at Santiago Bernabeu.

Seven points separate both sides in the La Liga title quest after dropping points at the weekend. While the hosts were held to a 1-1 draw against their fierce rivals Atletico Madrid, the visitors fell to a shock 1-0 defeat to relegation candidates Almería.

Read more: Arsenal vs Everton: Preview and Expert Football Prediction

Therefore, both sides will.be desperate to return to winning ways here and take the win in this first leg. Considering their form, Carlo Ancelotti’s side will be more confident of victory here, having won five in a row before their draw to Atletico last weekend. 

Barcelona’s recent results have been poor. The visitors have lost their last two games, with the aforementioned defeat to Almería on Sunday coming after a 2-1 loss to Manchester United in the Europa League.

With just the Copa del Rey and La Liga title to look forward to now after crashing out of Europe, Xavi will be desperate for his side to keep their chances of winning at least one extra trophy alive after their Super Cup win earlier in the year.

Given their history in this fixture, they will fancy their chances here as they’ve lost none of the last five away H2Hs in this competition (W2, D3).

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Valencia vs Real Betis MatchPlug Match Preview Soccer Prediction and Betting Tips

Valencia would be looking to get to the final of this competition by winning this game. They have all the advantages after they came from 2 goals down to secure a 2-2 draw in the first leg.

The home side also come into this game on a rich run of form that has seen them remain unbeaten in their last 9 games in all competitions including beating Celtic home and away in the Europa League.

They drew their last game against Leganes in an unlucky manner as they had been winning until the dying moments when the home side found an equalizer.

Real Betis would curse their luck after they failed to win the first leg despite being 2-0 for much of the game. They now have to win here to progress.

The visitors are not in the best of shapes as they have won just one of their last six matches and that win came in their last league game against Valladolid.

Leganes vs Real Madrid MatchPlug Match Preview Soccer Prediction and Betting Tips

With all the problems they have this season, most of us expected Leganes to come away from the Bernabeu with something when these teams met in the first leg of this game last weekend.

However, Leganes may have underrated Madrid and they were well beaten 3-0 by the European champions. Ahead of this game, Leganes would feel that the first leg scoreline has left them with nothing to fight for.

They were very poor in the first leg as they offered little going forward and also were a shambles defensively, if they perform that poorly in this game as well, they would probably suffer the same fate.

They had just 3 shots on target in that game and came out of it having conceded 3 goals. You can say that all the confidence they had before that game was lost during the game itself.

Leganes are not a team that gives up easily and when they have played at home, they have been at their best as they have lost just once in their home in the league this season.

Real Madrid have won each of their last four matches against Leganes. When the pair met in the first leg just a week ago, Madrid won by three goals to nil. Since they first met back in 2013, the pair have faced each other ten times. Leganes have won once.

Barcelona vs Levante MatchPlug Match Preview Soccer Prediction and Betting Tips

Barcelona bounced back from their loss in the first leg of this game to beat Eibar 3-0 in their last match and their fans would be hoping that they can continue that run of form and secure yet another win in front of them here.

The Catalans always lack both creativity and end product when they play without the likes of Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi, so Enersto Valverde has a decision to make in terms of resting his key men or not.

Levante can count themselves lucky to have won the first leg with two goals inside the first 20 minutes. They actually deserved their win because they were more economical with the ball, however, they haven’t been as good when  they play away from home.

Barcelona may not have been the best defensively when they play at home, but they have been scoring at least 2.5 goals when they play at home.

Levante have also not been their best when they play away from home as they concede at least 2.3 goals away from home.

Levante have now won two of their last three matches against Barcelona, though they have lost each of their previous 12 matches at Camp Nou.