Alexis Sanchez y Lionel Messi - Barcelona
| PROBABLE LINEUPS |
BARCELONA  Pinto Alves, Mascherano, Pique, Maxwell Xavi, Busquets, IniestaFabregas, Messi, Alexis | OSASUNA  Fernandez Bertran, Flano, Sergio, Raitala Cejudo, Punal, Nekounam Lamah, Ibrahima, Masoud |
Barcelona start 2012 with a home match in the Copa del Rey against Osasuna and Pep Guardiola may be set to field a strong line-up to get the year off to a good start.
The first training session of the year for the Catalan club took place on Tuesday and a number of players look to have shook off niggling injuries over the festive period.
Andres Iniesta is fit again for Barcelona after recovering from an injury he suffered against Hospitalet in the previous Copa del Rey match. Carles Puyol missed training on January 1 with an abductor injury but should return to training within a few days. Eric Abidal worked out in the gym as he attempts to shake off a flu bug.
Lionel Messi and Dani Alves returned to training on Tuesday after spending Christmas in South America.
However, Guardiola's men are still without David Villa and Ibrahim Afellay, who are absent with long-term injuries.
Jose Luis Mendilibar is sweating over the fitness of a few key Osasuna players going into the match. Brazilian defender Roversio withdrew from training on Tuesday after suffering some discomfort in his right calf muscle. Ion Echaide, Kike Sola, Raul Garcia and Ruben all trained individually and did not complete the full session.
| DID YOU KNOW? |
- The last time Barcelona played Osasuna, Pep Guardiola's side won the match 8-0 and Lionel Messi grabbed a hat-trick to help the Catalan Club to an astonishing victory.
- Barcelona's first match of 2011 last year saw them defeat Levante 2-1 at Camp Nou, with Pedro bagging a brace to see his side to victory.
- This will be Barcelona's fourth cup match in a row. In their previous match, they defeated Hospitalet 9-0 at Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey. The other two matches saw Barca defeat Al-Sadd and Santos on their way to claiming the Club World Cup title.
- Osasuna defeated Almeria over two legs in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey to make it to this point. A 3-1 away victory and a 1-1 draw at Reyno de Navarra sealed progression.
- Osasuna's first match of 2011 last year saw them lose 1-0 against Sevilla with Freddy Kanoute grabbing the only goal of the match.
The last match between the sides ended in a massive 8-0 victory for Barcelona but a number of factors would suggest that such a scoreline may not happen this time. Osasuna have improved a lot since then and find themselves healthily placed fifth in La Liga. Both teams may be slightly rusty after the Christmas break but expect Barcelona to cruise to victory again and bag a few goals in the process. Osasuna must aim not to have a repeat of the shambolic performance in the previous meeting but Barca have enough in their locker for a comfortable victory, but not a win of the magnitude of the match from earlier in the season between the clubs.
Editor's Prediction
Barcelona 4-0 Osasuna 
