Dividing opinions: Javier Mascherano in defence, midfield or on the bench?

Wednesday night is Copa del Rey semi-final night. The atmosphere and build-up to the match between Barcelona and Villarreal has not matched that of the tie with Atletico Madrid in the previous round, but that is just the exterior. 

For the Barça coaches and players it is not like that. Not one detail has been ignored in their preparations. The players want to take a huge step towards their first final of the season Luis Enrique has his eye on his first title as a manager. 

Statistics are just statistics, but it's still worthwhile to keep in mind previous information and to value it. Lucho and his staff consider it most important that they don't concede in the first leg. In Villarreal's last seven trips to Camp Nou they have scored on six occasions. The last time they visited, on February 1st, they scored twice in a 3-2 loss. 

Remembering that, Luis Enrique and his team are weighing up different ways of approaching the game, but it is the Argentine, Javier Mascherano, who is dividing opinions. 

It has been clear since day one that Mascherano is an important part of Luis Enrique's plans, a key piece of his jigsaw and someone the Barça boss doesn't see, for the second game running, not having a place in the starting line up. 

However, Juan Carlos Unzué, who has a lot of influence over Lucho, believe that against Villarreal, Barça must play a similar side to the one they fielded in Bilbao, the exact same team, in fact. 

That would mean a midfield without a lot of protection, but the rest of the coaches, including Lucho, are thinking it may be better to include Mascherano in midfield for added protection and to stop Villarreal from scoring a vital away goal. 

It would be a midfield similar to the one against PSG in the Champions League in December, with Andres Iniesta also returning. In any case, it will not be until the final minute that one option or the other is decided upon.

Lucho is aware that in recent matches Barça have been caught on the break and he wants a little bit more control over games. The idea is to protect the attacking trio (Messi, Suarez and Neymar) more. 

So there are the two options and on Wednesday night we will see who plays and where Mascherano ends up.