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Denis Cheryshev has already made headlines in the Copa del Rey this season. The 25-year-old Russia winger played and scored for Real Madrid in a tie against Cadiz in December when he should have been serving a suspension. Real were later expelled from the cup for fielding an ineligible player.

Now he has rocked up at Valencia on loan...and is on the bench at the Nou Camp.

There is hope for Gary Neville at the Nou Camp. It is almost two years to the day that Lionel Messi and Barcelona were beaten in a 3-2 thriller at home to Valencia in La Liga. 

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Gary Neville says he would have lost all credibility had he rejected the chance to manage Valencia. "Sitting on the television over the last few years, it is time now to stand up," he added in December.

Two months into the job he is still seeking a first league win. Was Neville right to being his managerial career in Spain? Should he have waited for a job in the Premier League? What will he be doing this time next year?

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This is the size of the task facing Gary Neville's Valencia tonight...

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You know Barcelona are taking the Copa del Rey seriously when they name Lionel Messi, Neymar and Louis Suarez in the starting line-up. Keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who normally starts in the Champions League, replaces Claudio Bravo in goal.

Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen, Vidal, Pique, Mathieu, Alba, Busquets, Arda, Iniesta, Messi, Suarez, Neymar.

There is no place in Valencia's starting line-up for forward Alvaro Negredo, who missed a hatful of chances in the 1-0 league defeat to Sporting Gijon last Sunday. He has to make do with a place on the bench. Winger Denis Cheryshev, who has joined on loan from Real Madrid, is on the bench.

Valencia XI: Ryan, Barragan, Mustafi, Santos, Gaya, Danilo, Parejo, Gomes, Cancelo, Rodrigo, Siqueira.

Gary Neville was 24 when he helped Manchester United become champions of Europe at the Nou Camp 17 years ago.

He's back there with his new Valencia side desperately requiring a positive result to deflect from his team's shortcomings in the league.

The trouble is Barcelona are taking this competition seriously as they chase five trophies, and Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar all start.

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Two months in charge and already the white handkerchiefs have been waved in the direction of Gary Neville and his Valencia team.

No wins in eight games, closer to the relegation zone than a European place...La Liga has proved an unhappy hunting ground for the former Manchester and England defender.

Yet he has found sweet solace in the Copa del Rey - Spain's top cup competition - taking his team to the semi-finals, and Neville back to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs as a player.

Can the Nou Camp provide him with another famous cup memory just as it did in 1999?