The second opportunity to hoist some hardware takes place on Saturday as La Liga Champions Barcelona take on Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey Final at Camp Nou on Saturday.
In addition to winning some silver, Barcelona is looking to complete the second part of the infamous "treble" which would include the La Liga championship, Copa del Rey and the Champions League titles.
Coming into the Spanish Cup Final, Barcelona and Bilbao rank one and two in history for the most Copa del Rey trophies. Barcelona has won the prize a record 26 times, and Bilbao has won 23 times.
Fresh off a two-point victory over their rivals Real Madrid, Barcelona, led by manager Luis Enrique might be looking ahead to their June 6th Champions League final with Juventus. This could be one of the only advantages for Ernesto Valverde's side as they enter into the match as heavy underdogs.
"You have to believe in miracles because they can happen," Valverde said. "We know that our opponents respect us and we respect them. Intense games are good for us and we have to work harder than them."
Firstly, the match is taking place in Barcelona at Camp Nou stadium, the home pitch of FC Barcelona. In addition to the tremendous home field advantage Barca has this season, Athletic Bilbao are winless at Camp Nou since 2001. Bilbao may have reached the Copa del Rey final, but they were awful in league play finishing in a paltry seventh place.
"We're playing in our own stadium, there are so many things stimulating us and making us stronger," Enrique said. "The motivation and hope is extraordinary at the moment. The players are aware of how difficult finals are and they're not going in feeling arrogant. They know it will be difficult but they feel they can overcome those difficulties."
Both teams come into the match with momentum. Athletic Bilbao went undefeated in their final seven matches and Barca is undefeated in their last 14 matches, winning 12 of those outright. They defeated Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League semifinals, a team many believed to be the best in the world. Speaking of best in the world, Barcelona has three of the best strikers in the world in Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar. Suarez, has been nursing an injury the past couple weeks and was rumored to possibly miss the match. However, Enrique announced on Friday that Suarez was fit as a fiddle and would return for the Copa del Rey final.
Unfortunately for Atheltic Bilbao, they will not be fully fit for the match as they are expected to be without Ander Iturraspe, Jonas Ramalho, Oscar de Maros and Iker Munian who all are injured.
Their best player is Aritz Aduriz who has scored 10 goals in Bilbao's last 11 games and will need to be at his best in order to get past the back line of Barca's defense.
Xavi will be playing in his last game at Camp Nou and if the crowd reaction during Barcelona's last La Liga match was any indication, we expect him to receive thunderous ovations throughout the day and after the match.
Messi will get a brace and Suarez will also score in an easy victory for Barcelona.
Prediction: 3-0 Barcelona
The match is set to kick off at 3:30PM EST from Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain. The match will air live on ESPN 2 and can be live streamed here. If you would prefer to watch the game from your mobile device, download the Watch ESPN app.
Betting Odds Courtesy of Bovada.lv:
Athletic Bilbao: +2 (+105) / +1200 Moneyline
Barcelona: -2 (-135) / -550 Moneyline
Over/Under: 3.5 Goals
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
