SPOILER ALERT: This story comprises spoilers for Season 1 of “Severance,” streaming on Apple TV+.

A recap is offered upon request.

“Severance” returns on Apple TV+ this Friday, nevertheless it’s been practically three years for the reason that first season of the sci-fi office thriller ended on a brutal cliffhanger.

So, earlier than you head again into the workplace Jan. 17, listed here are some issues it’s best to keep in mind from Season 1. In case you’re trying to clean up on simply the finale episode, skip to the top.

Innies and Outies

“Severance” follows Mark Scout (Adam Scott), a person who’s grieving the lack of his spouse Gemma exterior of the workplace — and who’s blissfully unaware he has a spouse contained in the workplace. That’s as a result of he works on the mysterious Lumon Industries and underwent an experimental and controversial “severance” process, primarily splitting himself into two completely different folks: his innie and his outie. When severed folks enter the Lumon workplace, they don’t have any reminiscence of their life exterior of labor. Likewise, outies know they work at Lumon, however they don’t have any reminiscence of their 9-5, together with their co-workers. Outie Mark is depressed and spends most of his nights alone, in the dead of night. Innie Mark is chipper, spending his days “refining macrodata” (neither his innie nor his outie is aware of precisely what meaning past sorting numbers into completely different bins in a pc program). At first of the sequence, Mark has been promoted to division head after the sudden departure of his colleague, Petey. He works alongside Helly R. (Britt Decrease), Irving B. (John Turturro) and Dylan G. (Zach Cherry) on the Severed Ground of Lumon, which is overseen by non-severed managers Concord Cobel (Patricia Arquette) and Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman). Sometimes, the innies are supplied with therapeutic wellness classes with Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman), who tells them information about their outies.

Petey

After work sooner or later, Outie Mark is approached by an unfamiliar man named Petey (Yul Vazquez), who claims to have labored intently with him at Lumon. Petey reveals he has undergone “reintegration,” an untested course of meant to reverse the severance process, permitting him to merge his innie and outie and entry each his work and private recollections. He tells Mark that Lumon is as much as some shady stuff, and severance is just not what it appears. He provides Mark data he gathered inside Lumon that opens his eyes to the corporate’s nefarious habits. Petey fears he’s being watched, so for his personal innie’s sake, Mark takes Petey into his residence to cover out. He suffers from extreme uncomfortable side effects of the reintegration course of, together with debilitating complications and hallucinations. Halfway via the season, he dies because of the illness.

Ms. Cobel and Mrs. Selvig

Issues begin to get worrisome when it’s revealed that Ms. Cobel is surveilling Mark exterior of labor, too. Whereas Cobel is just not severed, she lives a double life exterior of Lumon as Mrs. Selvig, Mark’s next-door neighbor and the doula to his sister, Devon (Jen Tullock). After Petey dies, she sneaks into his funeral to covertly reduce open his head and retrieve the severance implant.

Helly’s Struggles

The sequence begins on Helly’s first day working at Lumon. In contrast to her extra senior colleagues Mark (who believes his work is significant), Irving (a scholar of Lumon’s guidelines and historical past) and Dylan (obsessive about buying firm perks), Helly desires out. Within the first few episodes of the present, she always makes an attempt to flee the workplace. She tries to ship messages to her outie by writing phrases on her physique, however they’re intercepted by Lumon. She recordsdata a proper resignation request, however her outie denies it. And she or he even makes an attempt to finish her life by hanging herself within the elevator.

One other Case for Severance

Aside from it being marketed to potential workers as a life-style selection (come shut off your mind for half the day and by no means work!), severance is justified by Lumon claiming its severed staff take care of extremely categorized data. It’s a approach of guaranteeing that Lumon secrets and techniques keep inside the confines of the workplace. However there are different makes use of for the severance process as effectively, as is the case with Gabby Arteta (Nora Dale), the spouse of a pro-severance senator, who used the severance know-how to compartmentalize (and fully overlook about) her being pregnant.

Irving <3 Burt

Issues get spicy within the workplace when the Macrodata Refinement division crosses paths with one other group of severed staff over at Optics and Design. There are guidelines in opposition to fraternizing with different departments, one thing Irving would sometimes care about. However as an alternative, he’s enthusiastic about Burt G. (Christopher Walken), who equally has an appreciation for the work hanging all through Lumon’s halls. The 2 forge a strictly forbidden workplace romance, and out of the blue Burt is “completely retired” (i.e. his innie primarily dies). This radicalizes Irving. In the meantime, he retains having hallucinations at work of a black paint-like liquid dripping from the ceiling.

Exploring Lumon

Within the third episode, Mark discovers a map of the workplace sketched by Petey, hidden behind a framed picture. As skepticism and curiosity grows amongst the innies, Mark and Helly got down to discover the lengthy, white halls of Lumon. They uncover a room stuffed with child goats, and a person sporting a lab coat who warns, “They’re not prepared but!” Among the many different identified locations in Lumon are the Break Room, which breaks the minds and spirits of innies as they repeatedly learn an apology script as punishment for misbehavior; Optics and Design, the place Burt works; the administration workplaces, the place Ms. Cobel and Mr. Milchick are stationed; and the Wellness Middle, with Ms. Casey. There may be additionally the Perpetuity Wing, which serves as a Lumon museum of types. Separate from the Severed Ground is the Testing Ground, the place it’s implied that Lumon runs experiments on the innies and tinkers with their severance chips. No character is seen coming into the Testing Ground aside from Ms. Casey.

The Additional time Contingency

Issues take a pointy flip in Episode 6, when Dylan’s innie out of the blue wakes up at residence, inside his outie physique. Innie Dylan had misplaced some kind of informational card from the Optics and Design workplace, so Mr. Milchick has come to his home after work hours to seek out out the place he put it. That is attainable because of the Additional time Contingency, an emergency course of that enables innies to be woken up within the exterior world. Innie Dylan’s world is shaken when a younger baby barges into the room, hugging him and yelling “Daddy!” Now that Innie Dylan is aware of he has a son again residence, it’s all he can give attention to at work.

Reghabi and the Underground Resistance

Towards the top of the season, Mark is led towards Reghabi (Karen Aldridge), an ex-Lumon scientist who was integral to the creation of severance know-how however is now main an underground resistance in opposition to the corporate. She is the one who carried out the reintegration process on Petey. Mark meets Reghabi in a darkish constructing in the course of the evening, the place he’s found by Doug Graner (Michael Cumpsty), head of safety on the Severed Ground. To Mark’s shock, Reghabi murders Graner and provides Mark his all-access safety card to take into the workplace. She guarantees him that his innie will know what to do with it.

Gemma = Ms. Casey

One of many sequence’ most jaw-dropping revelations comes on the finish of Episode 7, as Mark is taping again collectively a photograph of his late spouse, which he had beforehand torn up. As Outie Mark stares longingly at a photograph of his spouse Gemma, we acknowledge that exact same girl (who is alleged to have died in a automotive accident) as Lumon’s very personal Ms. Casey. Within the following episode, Ms. Casey informs Innie Mark that she has been fired as wellness director. She is shipped to the Testing Ground.

The Innie Rebel

Armed with Graner’s safety card, motivation from a self-help ebook found contained in the workplace and a complete bunch of rage, the innies devise a plot to activate the Additional time Contingency on themselves. The plan is for Dylan to remain again and sneak into the safety workplace so he can get up Mark, Helly and Irving within the exterior world, the place they’ll share the reality about Lumon. Main as much as the massive rise up, Helly and Mark share a kiss. Ms. Cobel is fired for her ongoing failure to regulate the innies. And Dylan is handled to the coveted “waffle social gathering” perk, which entails a freaky sexual efficiency in a duplicate of Lumon founder Kier Eagan’s home.

When the innies get up of their outie our bodies after Dylan begins the Additional time Contingency, they discover themselves in surprising conditions. Mark is at a celebration at his sister’s home that includes a studying from the innies’ favourite self-help ebook, which is written by her husband, Mark’s brother-in-law Ricken (Michael Chernus). He acknowledges Ms. Cobel on the social gathering (although on this setting, she is Mrs. Selvig).

Irving awakens in his home surrounded by dozens of black canvases all depicting the identical scene — he has been repeatedly portray the hallway to the Testing Ground, regardless of by no means consciously visiting it. In his home, he finds a canine, navy medals and recordsdata containing details about previous and current Lumon workers, together with Burt’s residence handle.

Helly finds herself on the Eagan household gala, the place she discovers her outie is Helena Eagan, daughter of Lumon CEO Jame Eagan. She agreed to get severed as a part of a public relations marketing campaign, to current the process as each secure and moral.

Innie Mark suggestions Ms. Cobel off about his identification by calling her Ms. Cobel, relatively than Mrs. Selvig. Irving will get within the automotive and races to Burt’s home, solely to find he’s married to a different man. Mark tells his sister Devon he’s at the moment in innie mode and that there’s shady stuff occurring at Lumon. She tells him about Gemma, his outie’s lifeless spouse. Helly will get placed on stage in entrance of the Lumon board and different gala attendees, the place she reveals the reality about her household’s firm: “We’re prisoners!” And Mark finds a photograph of him and Gemma, recognizing her as Ms. Casey. He rushes into the lounge of his sister’s social gathering and screams, “She’s alive!” Instantly after, Mr. Milchick breaks into the safety workplace and tackles Dylan, shutting off the Additional time Contingency. The innies zap again into outies. Season 1 cuts to black.

In 2014, Linda’s monetary issues returned when she was investigated by Blackpool council and the Division for Work and Pensions for claiming advantages to the tune of £12,000 whereas working.

“I assumed I would caught to the principles religiously, however among the issues they regarded as ‘work’ simply hadn’t occurred to me. I assumed working meant doing a stage present, not fast tv interviews,” she advised The Telegraph.

She got here up with a compensation plan and finally was issued with a warning.

That very same 12 months, Linda went into the Superstar Large Brother home (reportedly as a result of she wanted the cash), an expertise that led to her telling torrid tales about her intercourse life and coming to verbal blows with Davidson.

The 2 had been enemies for the reason that 90s, when Brian had been caught stealing cash, exterior from Davidson’s good friend and fellow comic Frank Carson.

As sister Coleen turned a panellist on ITV’s Free Girls, Linda additionally turned a daily visitor.

And it was on that present in 2017 {that a} tearful Coleen advised viewers her sister’s most cancers had returned, and this time was terminal.

Linda had resumed her stage work however then, with the second prognosis, she stopped. In March 2023, she confirmed that the most cancers had unfold to her mind.

However as she made clear in her autobiography From My Coronary heart – launched in 2018 – she refused to spend the time she had left to stay “continuously stressing about most cancers”.

She added: “I’ve chosen to benefit from the little issues. I’ve chosen to snigger. And I’ve chosen to look again on my life and thank God for it.”

Some of the appreciated components of Alien: Romulus amongst followers and audiences was the retro ‘lo-fi sci-fi’ tech on show within the movie. 

Artist Jason Forrest Hogg (@nervouscircuit) lately posted a trove of behind the scenes pictures and movies of the visuals we caught glimpses of throughout the movie.

Hogg lead the inventive workforce at LOGAN in designing the pc UI interfaces of the movie, in addition to components of the opening titles. 

As Inventive Lead for display UI, I led the design and animation groups to develop each on-screen graphic and gadget seen all through the movie. Our objective was to faithfully protect the nostalgic CRT/analog aesthetic that defines the unique, whereas weaving in delicate components that trace on the evolution seen in later movies. From interface logic to data-driven storytelling, each pixel served a objective. Immersing myself within the wealthy lore of the Alien universe, I aimed to honor its legacy with considerate, story-driven design selections.

Try the remoted opening sequence animations for the Echo Probe beneath:

Hogg additionally posted a demo reel showcasing a compilation of the pc designs on show all through Romulus:

We even have a greater have a look at a great deal of different interface display animations from numerous sequences of the movie, together with from Corbelan, Rooks lab, the cryogenic storage, and extra:

The workforce moreover put collectively the glitchy twentieth Century Studios and Scott Free logos seen throughout the movies opening, in addition to the Alien: Romulus tittle animation. Head on over to Jason Forrest Hogg’s web site to see every thing.

Hold your browsers locked on Alien vs. Predator Galaxy for the newest Alien: Romulus information! You may observe us on Fb, Bluesky, X, Instagram, Threads, and YouTube to get the newest in your social media partitions. You may also take part with fellow Alien and Predator followers on our boards!

Commuters dashing by Grand Central Station on Tuesday had been handled to a curious sight: A glass dice stuffed with actors in enterprise informal, miming the mundane motions of workplace work. However, should you stopped for a minute—as many did—issues seemed slightly off. The computer systems weren’t glossy Apple screens however old-school knowledge processors. And sure, a kind of actors was Adam Scott, star of Apple’s hit sci-fi drama Severance, which returns for a a lot anticipated second season on Jan. 17.

For the uninitiated, the present facilities on a personnel who’ve agreed to bear the method of severance, mind surgical procedure that separates their work lives from their private lives. The characters refer to those two personas as “innies” and “outies.” The outies stroll into the places of work of the mysterious firm Lumon and take an elevator right down to the windowless “severed ground” at which level their “innie” clocks in. The outies do not bear in mind a single second of menial labor from their work day. Their innies, in contrast, stay a nightmarish existence. They’re trapped inside Lumon’s places of work, doomed to work on a boring but mysterious challenge, by no means to see the sunshine of day—till, late within the present’s first season, the employees resolve to insurgent.

Within the run-up to Friday’s premiere, the Apple TV+ advertising and marketing group recreated Severance’s drab-chic cubicles inside a glass field within the iconic station’s Vanderbilt Corridor, a spot whose grandness belies the drudgery plaguing so most of the commuters crossing by it. Actors from the present, together with Scott, Britt Decrease, John Turturro, and Zach Cherry, toiled of their tiny workplace with Patricia Arquette and Tramell Tillman, who play their bosses, overseeing their work. At one level Arquette’s character “punished” Scott’s character by forcing him to face in a nook and stare on the onlookers exterior the field.

Unsurprisingly, the pop-up went viral on social media, producing largely favorable responses. Whether or not it is going to transfer the needle on Apple’s comparatively modest streaming numbers, even for one in all its crown jewels, stays to be seen. However gauging from a metric of (on-line) public sentiment—does this endear us to the product being marketed, or make us wish to boycott it?—the pop-up was a convincing success.

Audiences have been handled to—or pressured to endure, relying on the way you see it—an countless array of film and TV advertising and marketing stunts over the previous couple of years. There was the Barbie onslaught which noticed Warner Bros. and Mattel plastering the long-lasting doll’s branding on merchandise starting from pool floaties to rugs. That film’s star Margot Robbie actually dressed like precise Barbies for months. In the meantime, Zendaya mastered the artwork of thematic dressing on the purple carpet, beautiful together with her tennis-inspired suits for Challengers and her futuristic appears to be like for Dune: Half 2.

The Depraved advertising and marketing group took pages out of each Barbie and Zendaya’s books: They produced Depraved-themed macaroni and cheese, crocs, and tequila, and clad their stars in pink and inexperienced for each look on the purple carpet, at junkets, and even within the stands on the Olympics. (Barbie collaborated with 165 manufacturers in 2023. Depraved topped that by teaming with 400 manufacturers in 2024.)

There are star-dependent advertising and marketing gambits, like Timothée Chalamet’s latest epic run catering to only about each moviegoing demographic forward of the discharge of his Bob Dylan biopic, A Full Unknown. He impressed together with his picks on School GameDay on ESPN, confirmed up at his personal lookalike contest, and (curiously) took to Instagram stay to thrash round to the Black Eyed Peas track “I’ve Gotta Feeling.” We Reside in Time star Andrew Garfield’s flirtatious meal with Amelia Dimoldenberg on Rooster Store Date went viral final fall, as did his tearful visitor look on the Trendy Love podcast.

Then there are the advertising and marketing campaigns that do not depend upon superstar. As an alternative, they intention to go viral by shock worth, just like the creepy smiling followers seated behind the dugout at a playoff sport between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, selling Smile 2, or the Bigfoot discovered wandering by Central Park final spring to advertise Sasquatch Sundown. In the meantime, interactive experiences produced by exhibits like Squid Sport invite followers to do it for the ‘gram.

Learn extra: Capitalism Killed Squid Sport

The Severance stunt stands out as a result of it merges each of those approaches: curiosity-provoking stunt multiplied by an element of star energy. Zendaya’s Thierry Mugler couture metallic go well with could have captured followers’ consideration, however her skill to drag off that futuristic piece renders her untouchable. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo “holding area” for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity” went viral as a result of their extremely emotional response appeared so out of the odd—no less than to these of us non-theater youngsters. These well-known persons are not like us.

It is uncommon to see celebrities within the wild, not to mention celebrities keen to sit down in the course of one of many busiest prepare stations in North America to be gawked at like animals on the zoo. And whereas Scott has not fairly reached Zendaya-level fame, he’s presumably too in style to be taking outing of his day staging a sort-of play in midtown Manhattan on high of the weeks’ price of interviews (together with with this journal) he is already finished to advertise the present.

Ben Stiller, the director, government producer, and a key artistic drive behind the present, is actually too well-known to point out up at this pop-up, not to mention stand exterior of it among the many folks, snapping images on his smartphone like a proud dad at his child’s dance recital. The truth that all of them participated within the stunt speaks not solely to their dedication to the present however a willingness to fulfill the viewers, actually, the place they’re.

And, after all, the stunt works on a deeper stage. The employees at Lumon are below fixed surveillance with no sense of privateness. Sticking the actors inside glass field underlines the sci-fi sequence’ creepy themes of surveillance capitalism.

Severance is the type of puzzle-box present that pulls a rabid fanbase obsessive about piecing collectively the clues and cracking its mysteries: What’s the evil firm Lumon as much as? Why is the corporate maintaining Adam Scott’s character Mark, particularly, below surveillance? Why are there child goats in Lumon’s places of work? The pop-up caters not solely to those followers, who little question delighted in searching for much more Easter eggs contained in the mini-Lumon workplace, but additionally to passersby on their each day commute who could by no means have watched an episode however will now, due to this curiosity.

If solely that they had managed to recreate the present’s famed Music/Dance expertise—or on the very least, a waffle celebration.

“The Crow Lady is a really well-made, pacy drama whose general confidence, type and authenticity carry it over the odd clunking line and borderline cringe-making scenes round a affected person with a supposed break up persona. Having seen the three episodes out there for evaluation, it appears poised to take care of its stress whereas additionally giving some sense of the evil males can do and the hope that good individuals can do one thing about it.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“From its very opening scenes, through which somebody gouges polystyrene with a knife in an try (profitable) to set your enamel on edge, The Crow Lady is a nasty piece of labor. Ten years in the past, that might have been the very best reward. On the peak of Scandi noir fever, nasty was good. We couldn’t get sufficient mutilated our bodies dumped in misty woods on the outskirts of Malmö, or uncrackable instances being cracked by browbeaten feminine detectives with troubled dwelling lives carrying assertion jumpers. However in 2025, when each TV and detective fiction have moved on, The Crow Lady simply feels nasty.”
Benji Wilson, The Telegraph

“Fret not. This gripping story of ugly killings, a paedophile ring and the exploitation of asylum seekers doesn’t kick off with the riffs to ‘Paradise Metropolis’. It as an alternative imports a satisfying Scandi chill to the West Nation, because it juggles a torrid sexual abuse storyline with a flinty efficiency by Eve Myles as a sardonic copper investigating the apparently ritualised deaths of a variety of younger males.”
Ed Energy, The Unbiased

“It’s a feat of unbelievable prioritising that Milly Thomas’s adaption isn’t complicated, regardless of an preliminary onslaught of a number of plots. When the separate threads begin to weave collectively within the remaining half of the sequence, you might be forward of some revelations, relying on how literate you might be within the style, however the author’s command of the story stays spectacular. Cosy crime it isn’t, however there may be gentle and shade due to some clever cinematography by Susanne Salavati.”
Julia Raeside, The i

The most placing factor about The Crow Woman is the sight of younger male our bodies mendacity useless everywhere. It’s fairly surprising. These poor boys, you suppose. Isn’t it horrible? How might anybody … ? It has the dual results of drawing you deeper into the plot and displaying you the way inured we now have grow to be to the sight of younger useless feminine our bodies used as surroundings and plot factors. It’s good to be reminded at times, I believe, of what we deem regular and the place we draw our cultural traces and have our consciousnesses and consciences shaken awake.

Now that I’ve crow-barred that outrageous feminist level in – to enterprise! This psychological thriller has been tailored by Milly Thomas from the Scandinavian bestseller of the identical identify by Erik Axl Sund. Eve Myles performs domestically harassed spouse and mom (although in a much more credible manner than is customary) in addition to high notch detective chief inspector Jeanette Kilburn. She embarks on a case involving first one very younger, very useless man – folded up in a bin bag and dumped in a gutter – then two – dumped bare exterior a warehouse – then three – dumped bare within the grounds of a faculty. All of them have a number of accidents on their our bodies (one has even had some fingers bitten off) and traces of the native anaesthetic lidocaine of their techniques. Their pedicured ft are in pristine situation. Oh, and a minimum of one of many victims was frozen postmortem. It’s right here I ought to notice that the primary episode opens with an nameless determine of indeterminate intercourse however voiced by a girl constructing a particular room and putting in a freezer in it whereas speaking about how her love for an unspecified however we think about unlucky particular person is “as limitless as the ocean” and the way whether it is refused “my love will discover you and I’ll love you whether or not you prefer it or not”.

As these clues are found, we’re launched to psychotherapist Dr Sophia Craven (Katherine Kelly, delivering one other of her pursed-lipped Icily Glamorous Skilled Lady performances which should be as irritating for her as it’s for viewers). She and Kilburn’s paths converge when the nice physician should assess a person, Carl Lowry (Trevor White), arrested for possession of kid abuse pictures after it seems that the primary physique was dumped exterior his workplace and that Lowry is a dentist and due to this fact has entry to … ? Sure, lidocaine.

When the second and third our bodies prove to have hyperlinks to different outstanding males within the native Bristolian neighborhood, suspicions of a paedophile ring develop.

Within the meantime, subplots are mushrooming. Craven is trying to find a affected person, Victoria, who tried to kill herself throughout considered one of their classes then vanished. This will likely or could not have one thing to do with the younger girl we see semi-stalking a schoolgirl whose dwelling life appears marked by unspeakable horrors – her father responsible, her mom complicit – or it might not. However it most likely does.

A latest unlawful immigrant referred to as Amar (Roger Jean Nsengiyumva) and his comrade-in-adversity Jamal (Basel Osman) are attempting to outlive life in a hostile land whereas residing in a hostel run by a terrifying gang. Ultimately they’re compelled into cage combating, which results in plenty of harrowing scenes and a minimum of one hyperlink to the principle plot – native businessmen attend the fights, and the fighters are given lidocaine to hold on bouts for longer.

And DCI Kilburn’s right-hand man, DI Lou Stanley (Dougray Scott) could or will not be a corrupt cop. New recruit Mike (Elliot Edusah) is made very uncomfortable by his manner of working however whether or not that is naivety or good instincts is saved properly ambiguous.

The Crow Woman is a really well-made, pacy drama whose total confidence, model and authenticity carry it over the odd clunking line (“They’re speaking to us,” says one character of the corpses. “However what are they saying?”) and borderline cringe-making scenes round a affected person with a supposed cut up character. Having seen the three episodes accessible for assessment (there are six in whole), it appears poised to keep up its pressure whereas additionally giving some sense of the evil males can do and the hope – more and more accessible solely in fiction it typically appears – that good folks can do one thing about it.

4 days after successful the Spanish Tremendous Cup, Barcelona should flip their consideration to their Copa del Rey spherical of 16 match towards Actual Betis.

Regardless of a disappointing finish to 2024, Barcelona have began the brand new yr trying higher than ever. The Catalans have received all three of their matches in 2025, together with the Spanish Tremendous Cup ultimate towards Actual Madrid. Barcelona secured their first trophy beneath Hansi Flick with a dominant 2–5 victory over their greatest rivals.

The Catalans solely had a quick second to rejoice the title earlier than returning to Barcelona and making ready for Actual Betis. The final time the 2 sides confronted each other, Barcelona solely managed a 2–2 draw with Manuel Pellegrini’s males. Now, with a visit to the Copa del Rey quarterfinals on the road, Barcelona will look to place in a greater effort at residence.

Flick will nonetheless be with out the injured Marc-André ter Stegen and Marc Bernal, in addition to Iñigo Martínez, who suffered a hamstring harm towards Actual Madrid. Wojciech Szczęsny may even miss the conflict after receiving a straight purple card within the Spanish Tremendous Cup ultimate.

This is how Barcelona might lineup towards Actual Betis on Jan. 15.

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GK: Iñaki Peña— The Spaniard will get the nod between the posts after Szczęsny’s purple card.

RB: Jules Koundé—The fitting again has the robust job of protecting Giovani Lo Celso, who leads Actual Betis with eight targets this season, off the scoresheet.

CB: Pau Cubarsí—At simply 17 years previous, Cubarsí is already set to make his 53rd look for Barcelona.

CB: Ronald Araújo—The Uruguayan will earn his second begin since coming back from harm whereas Martínez is sidelined.

LB: Alejandro Balde—Balde scored his first aim of the season within the Spanish Tremendous Cup ultimate.

DM: Marc Casadó—Casadó has been one of many surprises beneath Flick and continues to impress alongside Pedri.

DM: Pedri—The 22-year-old was the perfect midfielder on the pitch for both facet in El Clásico.

RW: Lamine Yamal—Yamal discovered the again of the online in each the Spanish Tremendous cup semifinal and ultimate, displaying no indicators of the ankle harm that saved him sidelined for a month.

AM: Gavi—Dani Olmo might return to the beginning XI for the Catalans, however it’s onerous to disclaim Gavi, who already has two assists and one aim in his final 4 begins.

LW: Raphinha—The Brazilian scored a brace towards Actual Madrid to proceed his career-defining season on the left wing.

ST: Robert Lewandowski—Lewandowski comes into the Copa del Rey fixture with 26 targets to his title throughout all competitions.

READ THE LATEST BARCELONA NEWS, PREVIEWS, PREDICTIONS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MORE

Barcelona adopted up its rout of Actual Madrid within the Spanish Tremendous Cup last with a snug 5-1 victory over Actual Betis within the spherical of 16 of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.

Gavi and Jules Kound scored a objective every within the first half-hour and Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal added to the lead within the second half to present the Catalan membership the win and a spot within the quarterfinals.

It was the fourth straight victory in 2025 for Barcelona, which on Sunday defeated Madrid 5-2 in Saudi Arabia to win the Spanish Tremendous Cup.

Playmaker Dani Olmo, registered within the final minute after a protracted battle between Barcelona, the Spanish league and Spain’s federation due to a missed deadline by the membership, helped arrange Gavi’s opening objective within the third minute at Montjuic stadium. Yamal gave the cross for Kound’s objective within the twenty seventh.

Kound thought he had added to the lead in first-half stoppage time however his effort was disallowed by video evaluate as a result of he was offside. Yamal additionally had one referred to as again by the VAR due to offside early within the second half.

Barcelona’s third objective lastly counted when Raphinha discovered the web in a breakaway within the 58th. Torres scored the fourth from inside the world within the 67th, a couple of minutes after coming off the bench, and Yamal sealed it after a pleasant run within the seventy fifth.

Vitor Roque scored Betis’ lone objective by changing an 84th-minute penalty kick.

Atletico Madrid prolong its file successful

Additionally Wednesday, Atletico Madrid visits second-division membership Elche seeking to prolong its file successful streak to fifteen matches.

In different round-of-16 matches on Thursday, defending champion Athletic Bilbao hosts Osasuna and Actual Madrid welcomes Celta Vigo.

Questions from Democratic senators, in the meantime, targeted on whether or not Bondi would say no to the president-elect.

“The priority is that weaponisation of the justice division could effectively happen underneath your tenure,” Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse instructed Bondi. “We wish to be sure that’s not the case, that you simply stay unbiased.”

In addition they targeted a portion of their questioning on FBI director nominee Kash Patel who, if confirmed, would report back to Bondi.

The FBI nominee has stated he has an “enemies listing” of individuals he’ll pursue if confirmed. A number of senators requested Bondi about these feedback, however she stated she had not heard them and the justice division wouldn’t have such a listing.

Bondi additionally instructed the committee that she would take a look at potential pardons of Capitol rioters on a “case by case foundation” however added that she condemned “any violence on a legislation enforcement officer on this nation”.

The legal professional basic serves as the top of the Division of Justice, which enforces federal legal guidelines. If confirmed to the function, Bondi would give authorized recommendation and opinions to the president and heads of government departments.

Her affirmation vote has not but been scheduled, however is predicted within the coming days.

On Wednesday, Senators additionally quizzed Marco Rubio who is predicted to be confirmed as Trump’s secretary of state.

He warned that Washington should change course to keep away from changing into extra reliant on China and promised to overtake US overseas coverage to deal with American pursuits.

Barcelona’s teenage ahead Lamine Yamal was in impressed kind, scoring as soon as and making two assists, as they thrashed Actual Betis 5-1 on Wednesday to e book their spot within the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.

Flying excessive after their 5-2 demolition of rivals Actual Madrid within the Spanish Tremendous Cup ultimate on Sunday, Barcelona did not even want their full arsenal to swat apart fellow LaLiga outfit Betis.

Coach Hansi Flick rested a number of starters similar to Robert Lewandowski, Marc Casadó and Alejandro Balde.

They dominated proceedings from the beginning and it took three minutes for them to open the scoring with Gavi slotting in a low strike from Dani Olmo’s help.

Olmo virtually prolonged Barca’s lead with a superb strike from contained in the field that hit the publish within the twentieth minute, earlier than Jules Koundé put them 2-0 up within the twenty seventh, firing house a volley from shut vary after a shocking lobbed move by Yamal.

After efforts from Kounde and Yamal had been dominated out by the VAR for offside, Raphinha scored Barca’s third within the 58th minute, netting from a counter-attack began by Yamal.

Substitute Ferran Torres netted the fourth within the 67th minute with a strike from contained in the field from an Olmo cross and Yamal scored the fifth from a fast counter-attack within the seventy fifth.

The purpose was first dominated out for an offside however the choice was shortly corrected by the VAR.

Brazilian ahead Vitor Roque, who’s on-loan from Barcelona, scored a comfort for Betis from the penalty spot within the 84th minute.