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The beautiful thing about national cup competitions is that they create an opportunity for some truly bizarre matchups, and the Copa del Rey in Spain is certainly not disappointing with Barcelona and Real Murcia squaring off for a spot in the round of 16, with the first leg of the tie starting on Tuesday.
It’s definitely a bit of an “odd couple” matchup, with Barcelona sitting in first place in La Liga, and Real Murcia all the way down in the relegation zone of the Segunda B division, the third level of Spanish football. It’s a heavily one-sided matchup, though we could at least wind up getting a special story out of it in this first leg.
With the second leg taking place at the Camp Nou, Barcelona can be expected to rotate heavily for this match, potentially setting up the opportunity for Murcia to get a shock upset of some form and force Barcelona to play a bit more strongly in the second leg. It still seems unlikely — there’s just such a gulf in quality between these two teams — but it would be a fun story to watch unfold if it did.
Match info, plus how to watch on TV and stream
Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 3:30 p.m. ET, 6:30 p.m. local
Venue: Estadio Nueva Condomina, Murcia, Spain
TV: beIN Sports (U.S. - English), beIN Sports en Español (U.S. - Spanish), beIN La Liga (Spain)
Online: beIN Sports Connect (U.S.), beIN Sports Connect España (Spain)
Make friends: Check out Barca Blaugranes for more Barcelona coverage.
Listings for more countries can be found at LiveSoccerTV.