Two Copa del Rey aficionados will square off in a tantalising quarter-final on Wednesday night, as Athletic Bilbao host Barcelona at San Mames.
Ernesto Valverde reunites with his former employers after leading the Basque outfit to a 2-0 win over Alaves in the last 16, while La Blaugrana saw off Unionistas 3-1.
Match preview
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Semi-finalists in each of the past four editions of the Copa del Rey - as well as clinching runners-up medals in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 tournaments, where both finals were played two weeks apart - Athletic Bilbao have continued to flaunt their knockout prowess since the 2023-24 campaign began.
A one-time Copa del Rey winner with upcoming foes Barcelona, Valverde - who also led Athletic to the 2014-15 final during his second of three spells in charge of the club - has overseen a quartet of relatively straightforward successes in the current edition, where Rubi, Cayon, Eibar and Alaves have been no match for Wednesday's hosts.
Athletic prevailed away from home against the latter three sides before putting two past Alaves without reply at San Mames on January 16, where Asier Villalibre struck either side of the half-time whistle to send Athletic into the quarters for the fifth year running.
Not since the 2015-16 campaign have the Red and Whites been sent packing at this point - although Barcelona were their conquerors over two legs that year - and Athletic enter the midweek knockout battle on the back of suffering their first defeat in any competition since October 22.
After embarking on a 14-game unbeaten run - including a sequence of six straight victories from December 16 to January 16 - Athletic were undone by a Hugo Duro header in Saturday's 1-0 La Liga loss to Valencia, dropping below Barcelona into fourth place in the top-flight standings in the process.
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Mixing it with the Spanish heavyweights is still no mean feat for Athletic, who are out to make it seven home wins on the trot when Barcelona pay a visit to the Basque Country, but the Blaugrana capitalised on their slip-up to knock them off their podium position at the weekend.
While the effervescent Lamine Yamal and top-flight defensive debutant Pau Cubarsi produced performances far beyond their teenage years against Real Betis, the headlines belonged to Ferran Torres, who took home the match ball courtesy of a heroic hat-trick alongside setting up Joao Felix's sublime outside-of-the-foot strike.
Not even a brilliant brace from the revitalised Isco could save Betis' bacon, as Barca triumphed 4-2 to sneak into the top three of the La Liga table and relieve some of the pressure on the under-fire Xavi, who has navigated his team around an unwelcome barrage of stories over his long-term future.
A 4-1 Supercopa de Espana mauling against Real Madrid aside, Xavi has overseen a promising start to 2024 for Barcelona, who have five wins under their belt from six competitive contests in the New Year, including away beatings of lower-tier Barbastro (3-2) and Unionistas (3-1) in the Copa del Rey.
However, Barca's only quarter-final exit in the past 17 years came at the hands of Athletic in the disrupted 2019-20 season, and they were also seen off by the Basque team in the 2021-22 last 16, but they have since strung together a four-game winning streak against the Lions without conceding a single goal.
Team News
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A few Athletic egos may have been damaged during their loss to Valencia, but none of Valverde's present players reported any serious physical problems during the match, leaving three players on the injury list ahead of the quarter-final.
Mikel Vesga (hamstring) and Oscar de Marcos (quadriceps) are definite absentees - Dani Garcia is dealing with a similar issue to the latter and is a doubt - while Inigo Ruiz de Galaretta only did individual work on Monday after being passed fit for a substitute cameo against Valencia.
Ander Herrera and Benat Prados will form the double pivot if Ruiz de Galaretta is not risked from the first whistle, and with Inaki Williams on Africa Cup of Nations duty, Villalibre - the tournament's joint-top scorer alongside Celta Vigo's Anastasios Douvikas with six - should operate at the forefront of the attack.
Valverde has also revealed that Alex Berenguer and Inigo Lekue are dealing with unspecified knocks, although the pair are both due to travel to the team hotel.
As far as Barcelona are concerned, juvenile defender Cubarsi - who celebrated his 17th birthday on Monday - looked a little jaded as he came off in the second half of the beating of Betis, although he did not appear to be suffering from anything more severe than cramp.
Cubarsi may be offered a reprieve if Andreas Christensen's ankle discomfort clears up in time for the quarter-final, and the Dane has been summoned to the matchday squad, as has knee victim Joao Cancelo.
Gavi (ACL), Raphinha (hamstring), Marcos Alonso (back), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (back) and Inigo Martinez (hamstring) are all still in the recovery phase, though, and in spite of Yamal's magnificent display against Betis, Xavi will surely be tempted to draft Felix back into the XI to avoid overloading the teenager.
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Simon; Lekue, Vivian, Paredes, Berchiche; Herrera, Prados; Muniain, Sancet, N. Williams; Villalibre
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Pena; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; Pedri, Gundogan, De Jong; Torres, Lewandowski, Felix
We say: Athletic Bilbao 1-2 Barcelona
In spite of their well-documented shortcomings, Barcelona remain as sharp as a tack in the final third, scoring in each of their last 15 contests and netting at least two goals in seven of their last eight battles.
La Blaugrana will certainly not have it all their own way at San Mames, where familiar opponents Athletic have dispatched teams for fun in recent weeks, but the Lions often lose their attacking bite when faced with a wall of Barca shirts and should fall just short as Xavi's side deny them a fifth successive semi-final appearance.
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Top tip
Ben Knapton
