Holders Barcelona will be looking to seal their place in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals today in the final instalment of three heated Catalan derbies against Espanyol over 10 days. The European champions hold a commanding 4-1 lead from the first-leg which Espanyol ended with nine men after red cards for Hernan Perez and Papakouli Diop, whilst goalkeeper Pau Lopez escaped punishment for stamping on newly crowned Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi.
However, Barca will be without the suspended Luis Suarez as he was given a two-match ban for confronting Espanyol players in the tunnel after the game and calling them a “waste of space”.
Espanyol have also been reported to Spain’s anti-violence commission by the Spanish league for alleged racist abuse aimed at Brazilian star Neymar during the sides’ 0-0 draw in La Liga on January 2.
Barca boss Luis Enrique compared Espanyol’s roughhouse tactics to playing American football after the first-leg, but will meet with his counterpart Constantin Galca on Tuesday to try and ease tensions between the two clubs.
Despite their comfortable lead and a punishing schedule of up to 17 games in January and February, Enrique is expected to start with both Messi and Neymar in attack in Suarez’s absence.
Javier Mascherano, Dani Alves, Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta are also expected to return after being rested for Saturday’s 4-0 rout of Granada.
La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid have far more work to do to reach the last eight after only managing a 1-1 draw with a much-changed side away to Rayo Vallecano last week. Atletico boss Diego Simeone has made a telling contribution with one of his substitutes scoring in each of the last four games and insisted he won’t hold back in rotating his squad once more for the return-leg at the Vicente Calderon tomorrow.
“We are doing things well and that gives us energy to prepare for the game in the Copa del Rey,” said the Argentine. “We don’t believe we are better or worse than any opponents, but we have a group of 23 players that are prepared to compete at any moment and those that come off the bench are giving us the chance to decide the game.”
Gary Neville’s Valencia can put their La Liga woes to one side by completing their passage into the quarters as they hold a 4-0 lead over Granada. Juan Merino takes temporary charge of Real Betis, after Pepe Mel was sacked for the second time by Los Verdiblancos on Sunday, away at local rivals Sevilla hoping to overcome a 2-0 deficit. The tie of the round, though, is likely to come at El Madrigal where high-flying Villarreal look to turn around a 3-2 first-leg defeat to last season’s finalists Athletic Bilbao.
Fixtures (aggregate score)
Today
1930GMT: Villarreal v Athletic Bilbao (Athletic Bilbao lead 3-2), Celta Vigo v Cadiz (Celta Vigo lead 3-0)
2000GMT: Espanyol v Barcelona (Barcelona lead 4-1), Las Palmas v Eibar (Las Palmas lead 3-2)
Tomorrow
1900GMT: Granada v Valencia (Valencia lead 4-0)
Atletico Madrid v Rayo Vallecano (1-1)

Messi named ambassador for Dubai Expo 2020
Dubai: Fresh from being awarded a record fifth Ballon d’Or, Lionel Messi was yesterday named as global ambassador for the Dubai World Expo in 2020.
“Lionel Messi’s performances on the football pitch bring people together, and as a result his influence reaches far beyond it,” said the Dubai event’s general manager Reem al-Hashimy in a statement.
“He is the ideal person to be our first global ambassador. He overcame youthful health challenges to achieve his dreams of international excellence through hard work; making him an inspiration. He is perfectly placed to reach out to young people around the world, bringing them together to join us as we work towards hosting our World Expo in 2020.”
Dubai plans to recruit other ambassadors for its world fair from a variety of fields including sport, arts, music, culture and the media. Argentina and Barcelona superstar Messi, 28, is widely regarded as one of the top footballers of all time, and by many as the very best.
On Monday he was picked ahead of great rival Cristiano Ronaldo to win FIFA’s Ballon d’Or for the world player of the year for 2015.
He previously won that award four times in a row from 2009 to 2012.
He has also won many trophies with his Spanish team including the Champions League four times, the Spanish league seven times, and three Spanish Cups.
At international level, he helped his country win the Olympic Games gold medal in 2008, although they lost to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final.