all set for Barcelona!

Ahead of tonight’s Copa del Rey semifinal first leg game and yet another clásico (21h), we had visits from Roberto Carlos and Mahamadou Diarra.  After hanging out with the team at Valdebebas, they had lunch at Mesón Txistu, where this adorable scene took place.

RC: We played very well together, you always provided the perfect coverage for me.  MD: Yes, always, I played almost as a leftback, because you were always up there… 

I hope the visits were able to inspire our players!

Here are a couple more moments from yesterday morning.

And since most of the other goings on from yesterday were covered in the previous post, there’s not much more to say, other than these interesting statistics, data and facts courtesy of AS and Mr. Chip.

222 official games: Real Madrid and Barcelona have played 222 official games, and the balance for Madrid is 88-47-87.  For those games where Madrid was the home team, the balance is 61-24-25.

Copa del Rey games: Real Madrid and Barcelona have faced each other in 30 Copa del Rey games, with a balance of 10-6-14.  Madrid has scored 58 goals, while Barcelona has scored 60.  Santiago Bernabéu is the top goalscorer in Copa del Rey clásicos, with seven goals.  Until last season, the two teams had never faced each other in two consecutive editions of the tournament (final, quarterfinals).  With this match-up, it will be three.

Eliminated: for the past three seasons, Madrid and Barcelona have eliminated each other from the Copa.  Other than Barcelona, the last team to eliminate Madrid was Alcorcón in the 2009-10 season.

Two games: Madrid and Barcelona have faced each other in 24 two-leg elimination rounds (11 in the Copa, four in the Champions League, six in the Supercopa and three in the Copa de la Liga).  Madrid has come out on top more times, eliminating Barcelona 13 times.  In the Copa, Madrid has come out on top five times and Barça six.

Advantage: the team that plays the first leg away from home has an advantage.  In the 24 two-leg elimination rounds, the team that played the second game at home qualified 67 percent of the time (16 out of 24).  However, four out of the five eliminatory Copa match-ups (1962, 1970, 1993, 1997) had the team who played at home first qualifying.  Last season was the only exception.

Mou: Mou will be coaching his eighth Copa semifinal, after having done it twice in Portugal, twice in England, twice in Italy and once in Spain.  His team qualified five out of the seven times.

Adán and Diego López: no matter who plays, this will be the first clásico in 27 years in which both starting goalkeepers are not the usual starters.  The last time that happened was on May 18, 1986 in the Copa de la Liga, when Agustín suited up for Madrid and Amador for Barça.  The starters at that time were Ochotorena and Urruticoechea.

No Iker: the last clásico without Iker Casillas was played on May 1, 2002, in the semifinals of the Champions League.  Since then, Iker has started 30 consecutive clásicos.  Due to his injury, he won’t be able to beat Paco Gento’s 35 consecutive clásicos record, set between 1954 and 1966.

Two teams Diego: if Diego López plays a minute in the 2012-13 Copa with Real Madrid, something that never happened before could occur if Madrid and Sevilla both reach the final.  He will be the champion and runner-up of the tournament in the same season, since he had played 270 minutes with Sevilla in the tournament this season.  Seven of Diego’s 11 official games with Madrid were in the Copa del Rey.

Cristiano, 600 games: Cristiano will play his 600th game as a professional player: 31 with Sporting (five goals), 292 with Manchester United (118), 100 with Portugal (37) and 176 with Madrid (179).  His 600th game will be against the rival he has faced the most number of times in his career: Barcelona.  He has played them 20 times, including tonight.

Cris, another record: Cris has scored in all of the last six clásicos he’s played, a streak that no other of the 830 players who took part in this duel has achieved.  Messi’s best streak is three games (which is current).

Home sweet home: Madrid has not lost in its last 31 official games in the Bernabéu (26 wins, five ties), since the 1-2 against Barça on Jan. 18, 2012 in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey.  Madrid has not had such a long streak in the past 15 years.  The record is 84 games, achieved between 1977 and 1981.

What are your thoughts on this game?