Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona Copa del Rey Final 2012 match Preview

Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona, Copa del Rey Final match scheduled on Friday, May 25, 2012.
Kick off will be on 20:00 BST at Vicente Calderon.This will be the last important game of the season in Spanish inter-club competition. It will be a very interesting game, and also it will be the first important game for Barcelona after coach Pep Guardiola has left the team.
Pep Guardiola will say ‘adios' to Barcelona after this match and his players will try to lift the last trophy under his reign.

Barcelona defeated Valencia in the semi-finals 3-1 on aggregate over two legs, whilst Bilbao beat Mirandes 8-3 before final.

Barcelona will be desperate to add to silverware to the cabinet this campaign after they finished second to local rivals Real Madrid in La Liga.

Barca will be without injured duo Carles Puyol and David Villa. Also Dani Alves has suffered a broken collarbone and will therefore play no part in the Copa del Rey final while Alexis Sanchez has resumed regular training action after a spell on the sidelines due to injury.

The Basques have lost four games while drawn one in their last 5 meetings which shows that they have been struggling to find their form for Copa Del Rey. Bilbao's 3-0 lost in Europa league final against Atletico Madrid might have lost their confidence.

ATHLETIC BILBAO vs BARCELONA LINEUPS:
Athletic Bilbao (4-3-3): Iraizoz – Iraola, Javi Martinez, Amorebieta, Aurtenetxe – De Marcos, Herrera, Iturraspe – Susaeta, Llorente, Muniain.
Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes – Pique, Mascherano, Adriano, Busquets – Thiago Alcantara, Xavi, Iniesta – Messi, Fabregas, Sanchez

Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona's Last matches results:

Athletic de Bilbao
2012-05-13    Levante UD 3 – Athletic de Bilbao 0    La LIGA
2012-05-09    Atletico Madrid 3 – Athletic de Bilbao 0    Europa League
2012-05-05    Athletic de Bilbao 0 – Getafe 0    La LIGA
2012-05-02    Athletic de Bilbao 0 – Real Madrid CF 3    La LIGA

FC Barcelona
2012-05-12    Betis 2 – FC Barcelona 2    La LIGA
2012-05-05    FC Barcelona 4 – Espanyol 0    La LIGA
2012-05-02    FC Barcelona 4 – Malaga 1    La LIGA
2012-04-29    Rayo Vallecano 0 – FC Barcelona 7    La LIGA

It is also a clash between two sides who will be looking to put recent disappointments behind them, with Barca having surrendered both their Primera Division and Champions League titles over the last few months, while Athletic were beaten Europa League finalists.

However, much of the focus tomorrow night will be on Guardiola and whether Barca can end the 41-year-old's record-breaking reign with yet more silverware

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