Barca, Madrid gear up for cup semi-final
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E-mail Xinhua, January 30, 2013
Barcelona assistant coach Jordi Roura will once again sit in the Barcelona dugout this Wednesday as his side face Real Madrid in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final.
The treatment for cancer which coach Tito Vilanova is currently undergoing means Roura will be in change for perhaps the most important game of the season to date and he spoke to the press the day before the game to give his impressions of the fourth 'Clasico' of the campaign.
"We will try and win, impose our style and system of play and get a positive result for the return leg," said Roura.
Real Madrid trail Barca by 15 points in the league and that could make them more dangerous in the Cup, which is one of their remaining options for a title this season.
"I am expecting Madrid to be intense, complicated and difficult. They will be no different to the Madrid we always see: they are a highly competitive side," he stressed.
The return leg is not for another four weeks and Roura said he doesn't expect the tie to be resolved in the first leg.
"I'd love it if we got a result in our favor, but experience tells me that when there is a tie between two teams as good as this, it is not resolved in the first game," he said, adding he expected Madrid to try and play attacking football.
"They have a great team and these tend to be very even games which are decided by small details. We have a big advantage in the league, but here our aim is to progress in the cup," he said.
Meanwhile neither Real Madrid coach, Jose Mourinho nor his assistant, Aitor Karanka spoke to the press, leaving striker Karim Benzema to do the talking.
"Barcelona are not favorites as far as we are concerned, we know they are a great team, but we are ready for them. We know it will be a difficult game, but we hope to win," said Benzema, who stressed there were no problems between the players and coach Jose Mourinho despite recent stories in the Spanish press saying some players have threatened to leave the club if Mourinho continues next season.
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