After an embarrasing loss in El Clásico in the Spanish Super Cup Final in Saudi Arabia, Barcelona are back home preparing for the Copa del Rey Round of 16 match away to third tier Unionistas de Salamanca on Thursday evening.
Barça are in desperate need of some good news after a very difficult start to 2024 with poor performances culminating in their worst defeat of the season against their biggest rivals. It has been a difficult season and Xavi Hernández’s job is in more and more jeopardy with each disappointing showing.
A Cup game against the lowest-ranked team left in the field of 16 seems like a good opportunity for a bounce back, but Barça struggled to beat a fourth tier team in their Cup debut less than two weeks ago and are in such bad form that Unionistas genuinely believe they can pull off an upset for the ages.