Barcelona eyeing on over Copa del Rey Final as the least optimism from this season.
Following a grievous loss in El Clásico and a full week of training in Catalonia, Barcelona has traveled to Seville for the Copa del Rey Final against Athletic Bilbao at the Estadio de La Cartuja.
This will be the following time in two weeks that Athletic are playing a Spanish Cup title match at La Cartuja, and the 2020 Final was not one to remember for the Lions as they lost to Basque rivals Real Sociedad in painful fashion, a defeat that’s clearly affected the team’s morale.
💛❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛❤️💛 pic.twitter.com/oBdE18fpuH
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_cat) April 16, 2021
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Local reports have said Koeman will be sacked if he fails to win silverware.
“It’s a little bit strange that I need to answer these type of questions because we had a run of 19 games without losing,” the Dutchman said.
“We’re losing one game and I already need to talk about my future?
“Maybe I need to accept this. I have one more year of the contract. I know it’s big pressure and I can handle that but sometimes it’s a little bit strange.”
“I’ve got another year on my contract and I know what’ll happen if we win or if we lose,” Koeman said.
“I’ve spoken with the president and he’s shown confidence in me.
“I don’t think that every time something is written about a coach the president should have to give him a vote of confidence.”
Athletic are resembling to avoid losing a second Copa del Rey final in two weeks after they lost to Real Sociedad in the delayed 2020 final on 3 April.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Mingueza, Araujo, Lenglet, Alba; De Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Dembélé, Messi, Griezmann
Athletic (4-4-2): Simón; De Marcos, Núñez, Martínez, Lekue; Berenguer, Vencedor, García, Muniain; R. García, Williams
Competition/Round: 2021 Copa del Rey Final
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Ansu Fati, Neto, Philippe Coutinho (out)
Athletic Outs & Doubts: Oier Zarraga, Peru Nolaskoain (out), Yeray Álvarez, Yuri Berchiche, Iker Muniain (doubt)
Date/Time: Saturday, April 17, 2021, 9.30pm CET (Barcelona), 8.30pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 3.30pm ET, 12.30pm PT (USA), 1am IST (India, Sunday)
Venue: Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville, Spain
Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera
VAR: José Luis González González
