Athletic welcomes Barcelona in a classic cup match, with a place in the semi-finals at stake
Athletic Club receives FC Barcelona this Wednesday in San Mamés (9:30 p.m.) in the match Copa del Rey quarterfinals. It is a decisive duel for both teams, as well as historic, since it pits the two clubs with the most Copas del Rey in their record against each other. A total of 31 titles for Barça and 23 for the lions.
Those of Ernesto Valverde They come from losing in the league last weekend at Mestalla (1-0) against Valencia, which marked the end of a streak of 14 games without losing, with 11 victories in between and a climb in LaLiga EA Sports to fifth place. Right now, they are just 3 points behind the team led by Xavi Hernandezwho won their last league match 2-4 against Betis.
Barcelona’s last Cup victory against Athletic was in 2016, with Ernesto Valverde on the rojiblancos bench. The next visit was a 2-1, a defeat that meant nothing, since the Camp Nou saw the comeback (3-1). With the arrival of single-match crosses to the semifinals, Athletic won in the 2020 quarterfinals and in the 2022 round of 16. In the 2019-2020 campaign, Athletic advanced to the round and, in the 2021-2022 season, in the last precedent, the result was 3-2 for Athletic.
For tonight, Valverde has called up the entire Athletic squad, so Iñaki Williams, with Ghana eliminated from the African Cup this Tuesday, is not ruled out for the match.
For its part, Xavi Hernandez He will be able to count on full-back João Cancelo for this cup event, who has already received a medical discharge, while Danish centre-back Andreas Christensen also returns to the squad after missing the last LaLiga match at Betis’s home due to discomfort.
DATA SHEET:
-Possible alignments:
Athletic: Unai Simón; Lekue, Vivian, Paredes, Yuri; Vesga, Ruiz de Galarreta; Berenguer, Sancet, Nico Williams; and Guruzeta.
FC Barcelona: Iñaki Peña; Cancelo, Koundé, Araujo, Balde; De Jong, Gündogan, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Lewandowski and Ferran Torres.
-REFEREE: Sánchez Martínez
-STADIUM: San Mamés.
-TIME: 9:30 p.m.
Source: Eitb
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