SEVILLA FC PLAY THEIR NINTH COPA DEL REY SEMI-FINAL THIS CENTURY AGAINST A RESURGENT BARCELONA

Another semi-final night is on its way to the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán. This time the stadium will unfortunately be without our fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Sevilla FC will feel the warmth of their fans from home as they look to advance past another semi-final. Today's match is the ninth Copa del Rey semi-final that Sevilla contest this century - only tonight's opponent, FC Barcelona, has more semi-final appearances with thirteen. Kick-off tonight is at 21:00 CET as Sevilla look for what would be the fifth final appearance within these nine semi-finals, demonstrating that since 03/04 the Blanquirrojos have been one of the top teams in the Cup.

Sevilla have got to this stage in the tournament after coming out successful in the five previous rounds against CD Ciudad de Lucena, Linares Deportivo, CD Leganés, Valencia CF and UD Almería. Not only did Sevilla overcome these teams: they did so without conceding a single goal, the only team in this year's edition to boast of such a record. The team also got the job done in ninety minutes on four occasions, only needing extra-time against CD Leganés in the Round of 32. The Nervionenses are looking for what would be their eighth consecutive win, a run that would be the second best in the history of the Club.

Sevilla FC come into the semi-finals without having conceded a goal, while FC Barcelona needed extra-time in two of their three games

The Azulgranas come to Nervión having had a bumpier Cup campaign. Ronald Koeman's team, who began the competition in the third round, had their first match against UE Cornellá and needed extra-time to secure a 2-0 win. In the Round of 16, they needed to come from a goal down against Rayo Vallecano to get a 2-1 win. And they also had their backs against the ropes in Granada, where they needed injury time to complete a comeback from 2-0 down before securing a 5-3 win in extra-time. Barcelona will be without the services of Araujo, Dest, Braithwaite and Pjanic today. The Culés are on a run of six straight wins and, other than the Spanish Super Cup, have not lost since 8 December in the Champions League.

Julen Lopetegui highlighted in his pre-match press conference 'the excitement that such a tie gives, but we are aware of the difficulty.' The Basque coach also admitted tonight's opponent 'are in a good run, but so are we.' Curiously, tonight will be the first two-legged tie that Sevilla play since last year's Round of 32 against CFR Cluj. Since then, as a result of COVD-19 and the new Copa del Rey format, every knock-out tie has been contested over one match.

The game will be played on Wednesday 10 February with kick-off at 21:00 CET. Tonight's referee will be Mateu Lahoz, who will be assisted by Iglesias Villanueva on VAR duties.