Badalona out to upset wounded Barca in the Cup

MADRID, Oct 23 (Reuters) Third division Badalona will be out to upset a Barcelona side who have suffered consecutive defeats when they host the European champions in the first leg of their King's Cup fourth round tie on Wednesday.

Frank Rijkaard's side lost 1-0 to Chelsea in the Champions League last week and suffered a 2-0 reverse in the Primera Liga against arch-rivals Real Madrid yesterday.

While Rijkaard will almost certainly rotate his squad, he will be keen to avoid a third straight defeat, despite having the comfort of a return leg in the Nou Camp to turn things round should they need to.

Barca's most dangerous player of late, Argentine forward Lionel Messi, is set to miss the game with an ankle strain.

Badalona, also from Catalunya, can look to another third division side for inspiration after lowly Gramenet dumped the 24-times cup winners out at the same stage of the competition two seasons ago.

Then, as now, Barca were top of the league.

The fourth round draw of 32 sides was conditioned to ensure teams competing in European competition were drawn against sides from the lower leagues.

The lower league clubs play the first leg at home when drawn against teams from higher divisions.

Third division Ecija possibly have a harder task than Badalona as they host a Real Madrid team full of confidence from their morale-boosting victory over Barca.

But Ecija sporting vice-president Rafael Gordillo, a former Real player, has promised ''to put them under a lot of pressure.'' Real have not lifted the Cup since 1993.

Valencia face third division Portuense while the two surviving fourth division sides, Pena Sport and Gimnastica Segoviana, take on Osasuna and UEFA Cup holders Sevilla.

Holders Espanyol, who are 16th in the league this season, take on third division Rayo Vallecano, while last year's runners-up Real Zaragoza face second division Hercules.

Of the four all-Primera Liga ties Recreativo Huelva's clash with 2005 winners Real Betis, an Andalucian derby, catches the eye, as does Deportivo Coruna's game against northern rivals Racing Santander.

Cup specialists Athletic Bilbao, who have lifted the trophy 23 times, will hope to put poor league form behind them when they face Real Mallorca, while Atletico Madrid take on Levante tomorrow.

The return legs are to played on Nov 8.

REUTERS DH ND1936