No overconfidence

Roger Bogunyà

FC Barcelona tonight welcome Ceuta (22.00, TV3, La Sexta and R@dio Barça) where they will need to make the most of the 2-0 win in the away leg and qualify for the next round of the cup. The squad contains 12 first team players and five from the B.

Josep Guardiola and the 17 players picked for this game, one will have to be dropped from the final squad, know that the win a fortnight ago against Ceuta may be cause for relaxation, less intensity and less concentration, but also that those are the three biggest dangers tonight. Ceuta may be a Division 2B outfit, but Barça still have to remember this is a knockout tie, and any nasty mistakes could see them pay a very dear cost indeed.

Chance for 5 B players
As Guardiola said after the first leg, the game with Ceuta is still open. He would have liked another goal to really secure things. Instead, the job has to be finished tonight. So key members of the team, like Puyol who could make his 500th official appearance, Pedro and Messi have been named alongside five reserve players (Bartra, Thiago, Dos Santos, Sergi Roberto and Nolito). However, only for B team players can be on the field at one time.

13 games undefeated
Barça are in excellent form, as we saw with their wins against Sevilla and Getafe. But their stats are also astounding. They are on a run of ten wins, three draws and no defeats, meaning two months without any losses. Another positive factor is that this run has been achieved with some of the less regular members of the starting eleven featuring prominently.

Ceuta on form
But Ceuta are also on form. The side managed by Joao de Deus has won both games since their last meeting with Barcelona. They won 1-0 away to Alcalà and 2-1 at home to the leaders, Murcia, who are now second. Ceuta are third and therefore in the play-off zone, and now dreaming of winning 1-3, 0-3 or 2-4 at the Camp Nou, which all be scorelines that would see them into the next round.