Copa Del Rey Finals tonight!
The Copa Del Rey (translation: King’s Cup) is an annual football competition for Spanish football teams. Quite literally it stands for “Championship of Spain – His Majesty the King’s Football Cup”, and is also known as La Copa. (Preview of the Copa Del Rey Final 2017 !)
One side, we have the defending champions, ever so glorious – ‘Barcelona’ and on the other, after an enthralling season and most deserving team – ‘Deportivo Alaves’.
Barcelona takes on Alaves once again!
Their previous encounters haven’t been that great for Barcelona. They(Barcelona) lost at Camp Nou, their home ground, to this very team(Alaves) in September last year. This probably is an opportunity to take revenge as they are travelling to Mendizorroza, Alaves for the finals.
The only disadvantage is that a lot of Barcelonans are injured (Javier Mascherano and Rafinha, Gerard Pique and Arda Turan became last-minute dropouts for the trip). In addition to those four absentees, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets only returned from injuries with midweek cameos against Atletico. They still have a strong offensive line up, their terrific trio – Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar Jr. (Preview of the Copa Del Rey Final 2017 !)
I am certain that Luis has done his homework this time around. He singled out the attacking threat offered by Deyverson, Ibai Gomez and Kiko Femenia, before praising the consistency of midfield duo Manu Garcia and Marcos Llorente. They also have La Liga’s fifth-meanest defense. This is a red-tape game for Barcelona.
Alaves posing threat?
Barcelona’s coach, Luis Enrique doesn’t find the team a surprise anymore. Well, they did manage to surprise FCB on their very own turf, Camp Nou (2-1). They have also been a team to watch out for this season and at an advantage because they have done it before.
Copa del Rey final dress rehearsal represents a chance of revenge but also contains some clear warning signs that Alaves should not be underestimated and accordingly, Luis will once again shuffle his pack. He doesn’t have much of choice as he has to pick 11 from a total of 18 players that have actually flown out and are fit to play. (Preview of the Copa Del Rey Final 2017 !)
Honestly, Celta and Alaves are the only teams to have beaten Barcelona in the league this season – and wanting revenge is not as easy as getting it. Is the revelation team of this season going to be crowned champions or will the defending champs step up and show them – how winning is done! So the outcome is purely based on how well they play by each other and against one another.
