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Kaka, Villa await chance in Cup clasico

Sport
MADRID — Playmaker Kaka is hoping to be involved as Real Madrid try to salvage their season when they travel to face Barcelona in the second leg of their Spanish Cup semi-final today with the tie finely poised at 1-1.

MADRID — Playmaker Kaka is hoping to be involved as Real Madrid try to salvage their season when they travel to face Barcelona in the second leg of their Spanish Cup semi-final today with the tie finely poised at 1-1. — Reuters

The Brazilian scored and helped set-up Gonzalo Higuain’s winner as Madrid came from behind to win 2-1 at Deportivo La Coruña on Saturday and having started three consecutive league games for the first time this season, he said he could feel his confidence returning.

Assistant boss Aitor Karanka also hinted after the game that the former Milan man could be involved today and hailed his return to form in recent weeks.

Jose Mourinho will be able to recall Sergio Ramos after he was suspended at the weekend, while Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso returned to training on Sunday and are expected to be fit to travel.

, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira and Fabio Coentrao are also expected to return after starting Saturday’s match on the bench.

Barcelona assistant boss Jordi Roura meanwhile also has a selection dilemma after David Villa and Cristian Tello produced strong second-half performances as their team also came from a goal down to win 2-1 against Sevilla on Saturday. Villa scored the equaliser after being moved into a more central area to accommodate Tello, who had replaced the ineffective Alexis Sanchez at half time. The Spanish under-21 international set-up Lionel Messi to score the winning goal which moved Barça 15 points clear at the top.

Neither Villa nor Tello have been regular starters this season, with the likes of Sanchez, Pedro and Cesc Fabregas being preferred for the bigger games, but Roura refused to rule out the possibility that both could be selected today.

Barça will also recall a host of players that were rested at the weekend including captain Carles Puyol, Xavi, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.

However, despite holding a 16-point lead over the champions in La Liga, Barca don’t have a great recent record against Madrid, winning only one of the last six encounters between the two.