Hi, I did a bit of research on this and this is what I found.
I have the match report and team line-ups from El Mundo Deportivo from the day after the game. I am having difficulty uploading that page for some reason. If you private message me I will send it to you in an email. Here are the team line-ups from El Mundo Deportivo:
Barcelona: Estrems, Segarra, Olivella, Gracia, Flotats, Verges, Basora, Evaristo, Martinez, Kubala, Tejada.
Blues: Merrick, Hall, Schmid (Smith), Green, Lamkin (Larkin), Neal, Astall, Kinsey, Brown, Murphy, Gowan (Govan)
Birmingham City Football Club have in their archives the following team line-ups and a match report which I will include further on.
Barcelona: Ramallets, Segarra, Gracia, Olivella, Flotats, Verges, Basora, Evaristo, Martinez, Kubala, Tejada.
Blues: Merrick, Hall, Allen, Larkin, Smith, Watts, Astall, Orritt, Brown, Neal, Murphy
Barcelona goalkeeper Ramallets didn't play in the second leg but I believe played in the first leg and play-off. Barcelona goalkeeper Estrems played in the second leg in Barcelona.
I have also found the following team line-ups given on the internet on a different site:
Barcelona: Estrems, Flotats, Gracia, Segarra, Olivella, Verges, Basora, Martinez, Evaristo, Kubala, Tejada.
Blues: Merrick, Allen, Hall, Murphy, Neal, Smith, Kinsey, Larkin, Govan, Astall, Brown
Apart from the goalkeeper, the Barcelona team remains the same in all three of the above versions, but the Birmingham City line-ups change a bit.
The referee for the second leg in Barcelona was Manuel Asensi Martin from Valencia (picture attached).
I have also seen his name given as Don Manuel Asensi
I can find no mention that Manuel Asensi Martin was a late replacement for an Italian referee.
Three prominent Italian referees from the period were:
Giulio Campanati
Cesare Jonni
Vincenzo Orlandini
The Birmingham City archives match report is as follows:
BLUES BARCELONA BOUND - 13 November 1957
After beating the Catalan giants 4-3 at St. Andrew's the 15-man Birmingham squad flew into Barcelona with a fair deal of trepidation as they prepared to face a team and its fervent supporters who were determined to gain revenge for their St. Andrew's reversal and progress to the final at Blues' expense. The people of Barcelona have always been soccer mad and the 4-3 defeat did not go down at all well with the occupants of the proud Spanish city. 'Blues will be fighting an uphill battle - a battle against 11 of the best players in the world - and the most excitable supporters,' wrote Birmingham Mail reporter Eric Woodward ahead of the eagerly-anticipated second leg.
And those 60,000-plus fans would be housed in the club's new state-of-the-art Hans Gamper Stadium, now known worldwide as the Nou Camp. Barca's impressive new home had only opened its doors for the first time just two months earlier at a cost of almost £1.5 million, which in those days was a very hefty sum! When Blues became the first British club to play at the ground it boasted 100,000 seats but another 50,000 were scheduled to be added within two years. It was a daunting arena in which to try and keep the star-studded Barca team at bay but on viewing the lush green playing surface, boss Arthur Turner insisted: "This gives us a better chance still."
Looking back on his appearance at the Nou Camp in Blues News a few years ago, Bunny Larkin commented: "The dressing rooms were vast from what we were used to and then we walked through an underground tunnel and came up some steps onto the pitch; your head came out first, it was fantastic. You didn't realise how big the crowd was until you got onto the pitch."
CONFIDENT BLUES
The Blues manager maintained an air of confidence in the build-up to the big match even though the odds were stacked against his side. "I realise we have all our work cut out, but we can win," said Arthur Turner ahead of the match.
The Blues boss visited the offices at the Nou Camp and was mightily impressed with what he saw, adding: "They have a permanent staff of 50 and 700 part-time helpers. No wonder they are a great club with such administration."
The Barcelona players had complained of overly-rough treatment from the Blues team during the first leg at St. Andrew's. One member of the Barca backroom team who had sympathy for Blues and the criticism aimed at them was reserve team manager Emilio Aldecoa. The 34-year-old, who coached at Blues later in his career, turned out as player in this country for Wolves and Coventry. He admitted that the Spaniards had overreacted somewhat. He commented: "Spanish players will not have strong tackles. I tell my players that they are more like ballroom dancers at times, but the lesson for them is hard to learn. The crowd will not object, however, if it is clearly shown that the Blues are playing the ball and not the man." Turner responded by insisting: "We will play hard - but fair."
Meanwhile Barcelona manager Joseph Samitier declared: "I hope the Birmingham people liked our play when we visited them, but we can play better than that and we shall against them here."
TEAM NEWS
Blues' preparation for the second leg wasn't ideal as the team lost two First Division games on the bounce, shipping three goals on each occasion. Arthur Turner opted to recall Jeff Hall, who had not played in the first team for month after losing his place. This had led to rumours in the press that the England international had requested a transfer but those stories were quashed by Turner in the build-up to the return match against Barca, with the Blues boss saying: "He has not asked for a transfer, and is not going to ask for the transfer." Hall had been playing in the reserves as Turner felt that he needed to regain his form and some impressive displays for the second string brought about a return to the team for the big match, with Brian Farmer making way.
Turner made three other changes from the side that had lost 3-2 at home to Sunderland on the Saturday. Bunny Larkin and Noel Kinsey replaced Johnny Watts and Bryan Orritt while regular left-back Ken Green, who had missed the first leg due to a back strain, was again forced to sit out due to injury, with George Allen taking his position.
Barcelona's star man Ladislav Kubala missed the first leg at St. Andrew's due to a flu virus but the Hungarian hot shot was fit and available for the second match. The striker was now playing his international football for Spain and had recently bagged a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Turkey.
LATE PAIN IN SPAIN
Blues came within just eight minutes of sealing a cup final berth only to be denied by a late strike from Barca danger man Ladislav Kubala. Up to that point Arthur Turner's side had performed a marvellous rearguard action and rebuffed wave after wave of attacks from their illustrious hosts.
"They did me proud," commented Turner afterwards. But the late goal meant that the aggregate score finished level at 4-4 and with no 'away goals rule' in those days the two teams would have to go through it all again in a replay. Despite having come so close to a famous result, after the match the Blues players were more concerned about what they felt had been unfair treatment from match referee Don Manuel Asensi. The official continually blew for fouls against the visitors before they had got anywhere near the ball.
Jeff Hall said: "If you go on your back in a tackle here you are automatically judged guilty of a foul." And his team mate Peter Murphy added: "That Spanish referee seems to have ideas all his own. It was idiotic - quite a farce instead of a soccer match." The referee explained: "I did not want this match to develop into a battle so I made decisions on question of intent rather than results."
After being criticised for their 'strong tackling' in the first leg, this time it was the Blues players that felt aggrieved by the underhand tactics used by some of the Barca team in the rematch. The visitors' man-of-the-match, Dick Neal, commented: "Every time I went to head the ball the whistle went and all the time someone was giving me a dig in the ribs. They don't like our tackling. They come out with that idea and then the fun begins. We will go flat out again when we meet again."
So the scene was set for what promised to be another fiery encounter for the third meeting of the clubs within the space of five weeks in the Swiss city of Basle..
THE TEAMS
Barcelona: Ramallets, Segarra, Gracia, Olivella, Flotats, Verges, Basora, Evaristo, Martinez, Kubala, Tejada.
Blues: Merrick, Hall, Allen, Larkin, Smith, Watts, Astall, Orritt, Brown, Neal, Murphy.
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