COPA DEL REY Barcelona (2) v Real Madrid (1):REAL MADRID defender Pepe will play in tonight's King's Cup quarter-final second leg at Barcelona if he is fit, despite the controversy over his alleged stamp on Lionel Messi's hand in last week's first game, coach José Mourinho said yesterday.

Pepe denied intent in the 2-1 defeat and the incident, caught on camera, was apparently missed by the referee who had earlier booked the Portuguese for a late tackle on Sergio Busquets. Pepe (28), who was left out of Sunday’s La Liga win at home to Athletic Bilbao, is available for the game at the Nou Camp after the Spanish soccer federation decided to take no action against him.

A tetchy Mourinho said Pepe and midfielders Lassana Diarra and Esteban Granero had minor injuries and a decision on their availability would be taken today.

“There are three players with problems, including Lass and Granero,” said Mourinho, who gave curt responses to most of the questions he was asked at the news conference. “If he is physically fit, he’ll play,” he said of his compatriot Pepe.

Barca decided not to report Pepe over the incident and said it was up to the soccer authorities to take the initiative. The Pepe row has added extra spice to the second leg, but Mourinho batted away several questions about tactics in an effort to reverse Real’s woeful run of results against their arch rivals.

Last week’s defeat at the Bernabeu was Mourinho’s fifth against Barca in nine games since he joined Real and he has only managed one win in a “Clasico”, a 1-0 success after extra time in last year’s cup final. “I won’t answer,” he replied when asked about his plans.

Asked about an unsourced report in the Spanish media that he plans to leave Real in June, he added: “Did I say that? Ask your colleague.”

Responding to an enquiry about why he thought some Real fans had whistled him in Sunday’s win over Bilbao, he said curtly: “I don’t know; you’ll have to ask them.”

Reports have also emerged of an alleged training ground row between Mourinho and Real’s Spain defender Sergio Ramos and suggested a rift in the squad between Spanish and Portuguese internationals.

However, Ramos has rejected the reports.