Barcelona is three games away from playing a final. The Copa del Rey appears on the Blaugrana calendar as the most feasible title, not least because of the proximity and because Madrid is no longer in the running, but that does not mean that it is close or is much less easy. After playing against Barbastro and Unionistas, two lower-class teams, the next screen that Barça has to pass is one of the monsters of the game: Athletic, the second team with the most Cups, after the Blaugrana.
“We didn’t want to play on their field, with their people,” Xavi Hernández admitted his discomfort at playing the quarterfinals in a single match at the new San Mamés, where Barça was eliminated in 2020 and 2022. “They are a very difficult rival and a very complicated scenario,” he reiterated.
The Barcelona coach is right. Only Madrid, in August, has won at the Cathedral this season and in the last five home games they have only conceded one goal. Xavi did not stop praising the lions. “We value Valverde very much on the staff. They are very fit despite losing at Mestalla. They do things very well. He will be a great game. We have a football war,” he analyzed.
The victory at Villamarín has given Barça morale. “It went very well for us, because of how we played, for achieving it in the end and because we celebrated it as a family. Didn’t you see the celebration? It is not from a team that discards the League. 18 games left. We are not going to throw in the towel,” remarked the man from Terrassa, who for today also recovers Cancelo and Christensen in defense, and who will insist with Ferran Torres in attack after his hat-trick against Betis. In fact, his first goal as a Barcelona player came precisely in San Mamés, two years ago (January 20, 2022).
However, Xavi plans the match in a way that is diametrically opposed to that of Seville. “We will hardly have so much possession,” he warned. “We will have less time to think because they press, they are aggressive, they put their defense high and play directly. San Mamés roars a lot.”
Quite a test for Iñaki Peña, who has played 13 consecutive games between the sticks – due to the loss of Ter Stegen, who underwent back surgery on December 8 – but in only two has he been able to keep a clean sheet. “He is prepared and we trust him a lot. He is doing a great job despite the goals conceded. He has also played in Turkey and in few countries they shout louder than there,” said Xavi, recalling the six-month loan to Galatasaray.
Peña faces national team level players such as Nico Williams and Sancet, in addition to a Villalibre that has scored six goals in the Cup. Even in Bilbao it is assumed that Iñaki Williams will arrive on time with an express flight from the Ivory Coast after the elimination from Ghana. That is the importance of the Cup for Athletic.
And that is why Xavi put aside the controversy over the VAR of Madrid-Almería. “I believe in the honesty of referees. But I don’t like the pressures they have. The controversy is not in me, but in Madrid. I answer out of politeness what you ask me about, but I don’t want to add anything more,” he turned the page.
