Ousmane Dembélé will not appear on Saturday evening at the starting signal of the Copa del Rey final between Barcelona and Athletic Club. Ronald Koeman once again opts for a 3-5-2 system in the final battle of the Spanish cup tournament, although the media in Spain suggested that the Dutchman would fall back to a 4-3-3 line-up. However, Koeman is said to have changed his mind when his plans for the cup final leaked into the Catalan media. In tonight’s formation, Antoine Griezmann is preferred over Dembélé. Frenkie de Jong takes place in midfield. The game in the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville starts at 9.30 p.m.
It has not happened for months that Dembele has to start on the couch for technical reasons. In recent months, the attacker has invariably been one of the basic forces that put Koeman first on the match record. At most, he got some rest in the run-up to an important game, or if he was struggling with minor injuries or if he had simply played many games in a row. For example, Dembélé only played the second half against Osasuna (0-2), and then played 79 minutes against Paris Saint-Germain (1-1) four days later. Partly thanks to Dembélé, Griezmann fluctuated much more often between base and bank, but in Seville he is preferred over his fellow countryman.
Gerard Piqué makes his comeback in the three-man defense of Barcelona. He played his last match in the second semi-final against Sevilla (3-0) on 3 March and has been in the infirmary of Barcelona ever since. Óscar Mingueza and Clément Lenglet complete the defense, with Marc-André ter Stegen of course on target. Sergiño Dest and Jordi Alba are once again in charge, both defensive and offensive. De Jong, Sergio Busquets and Pedri form the midfield, while Griezmann is joined in the attack by captain and star player Lionel Messi.
Form
Barcelona hopes to win the first prize of the season tonight. It would also be the first trophy for Koeman as the Catalans’ head coach. The final of the Spanish Super Cup was lost in January: Athletic was then too strong in the final battle, 2-3. In LaLiga, Barcelona remained unbeaten for nineteen match days in a row, but Real Madrid put an end to that exactly a week ago: 2-1. Two weeks ago, Athletic lost the ever-postponed cup final of last season 0-1 to arch-rival Real Sociedad and has not won a single official game since March 7. After the 2-1 win over Granada, two losses and four draws followed.
Ninth final between Barcelona and Athletic
Athletic last won the Copa del Rey in 1983/84 at the expense of Barcelona, which was defeated 1-0. The Basques and the Catalans will face each other for the ninth time in a cup final tonight and have stepped into six of the eight previous editions los Azulgrana as winner of the field: 1919/20 (0-2), 1941/42 (4-3), 1952/53 (2-1), 2008/09 (1-4), 2011/12 (0-3) and 2014/15 (1-3). In addition to the cup win in 1983/84, Athletic also won the cup in 1931/32 at the expense of the Catalans. Barcelona is the absolute number one in the Spanish cup tournament with 41 final places and 30 cup victories. Athletic is a close second with 38 places in the final and 23 cups in the display case.
The road to the final battle
The road from Barcelona to the final was not easy. In the sixteenth finals, Koeman’s team immediately needed an extension to eliminate fellow countryman and third division UE Cornellà (0-2) and in the eighth finals Rayo Vallecano (1-2) was also a difficult opponent. In the quarterfinals, Barcelona needed extra time for the second time: this time to eliminate Granada (3-5). After the 2-0 defeat in the first semi-final match against Sevilla, the end of the story seemed for Barcelona, which, in the reunion at the Camp Nou, forced a 2-0 score in regular time and ultimately the decisive third in the necessary extension. goal scored: 3-0.
Athletic also faced the necessary obstacles towards the final battle in Seville. UD Ibiza and Alcoyano were beaten 1-2 in the sixteenth and eighth finals and after that the Basques needed a penalty shootout to eliminate Real Betis: 1-1, 1-4 after penalties. Levante was certainly not an easy last hurdle to reach the final. After a 1-1 draw at home, Athletic triumphed 1-2 in Valencia.
Goalscorers in the Copa del Rey
Barcelona’s goals in the cup tournament were distributed fairly evenly. Griezmann, De Jong, Jordi Alba, Ousmane Dembélé and Martin Braithwaite were each good for two hits. The other goals were scored by Lionel Messi and Gerard Piqué. At Athletic, the most goals came from Raúl García: three. The remaining goals of the Basques were made by Álex Berenguer, Iñaki Williams, Asier Vialibre, Unai Núñez and Iñigo Martínez.
Line-up Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Mingueza, Piqué, Lenglet; Dest, De Jong, Busquets, Pedri, Jordi Alba; Messi, Griezmann.
Line-up Athletic: Simón; De Marcos, Álvarez, Martínez, Balenziaga; Berenguer, Dani García, Unai López, Muniain; Iñaki Williams and Raúl García.