Barcelona’s reputation was at stake when playing the Copa del Rey final against Valencia at Benito Villamarin Stadium, Seville, Saturday (25/5).
Barcelona have the opportunity to add to the trophy this season with the Copa del Rey if they can beat Valencia in the final match. Previously the Blaugrana successfully won the Spanish La Liga with a nine-point advantage over Atletico Madrid.
Nevertheless, the failure in Champions League after being eliminated by Liverpool in the semifinals made Barcelona on two sides ahead of the final match.
The victory at Real Betis headquarters doesn’t seem to mean much to Lionel Messi and his friends. Because for Barcelona fans, competition trophies or domestic tournaments are no longer ‘feasible’ for them. Moreover, Barcelona have been Copa del Rey champions since 2015.
For a Barcelona class team, they need to declare the Champions League trophy as the main target in every season. This was not only because there were no more champions in Europe for three seasons, but also the prestige of their rivals, Real Madrid.
In the hands of Zinedine Zidane Madrid three successive Champions League wins in a row, from 2015/2016 to 2017/2018. Unfortunately when Zidane stepped down from his position and Cristiano Ronaldo left at the end of the 2017/2018 season Barcelona could not take advantage of the situation.
Barcelona have a wide open chance for champions in this season when a 3-0 win over Liverpool in the first leg of the semi-final at Camp Nou. Many parties say Barca will be easy to the final and will be champions this season.
But fate said something else for Barcelona when the second leg was held at Anfield. Luis Suarez and his friends did not play at home to Liverpool, they lost 0-4 or aggregate 3-4.
For the second time Barcelona were eliminated after winning with a convincing score in the first leg. The first occurred in the 2016/2017 Champions League quarter-finals. Had a 4-1 win over AS Roma in the first leg, Barca actually lost 0-3 in the second leg and were eliminated due to losing away goals.
Barca’s elimination from the Champions League because the same ‘case’ made the fans furious. In La Liga’s last home game in a 2-0 win over Getafe fans booed Ernesto Valverde’s side.
Scorn is like a sign that it is no longer a domestic trophy that supporters want. A similar situation could occur if Barcelona beat Valencia in the Copa del Rey final. A victory in the King’s Cup will not save Barcelona from a bad season in front of supporters.
However, worse conditions will occur if Barcelona fail to win a double title. With Valencia the Copa del Rey champion, Barca’s La Liga title could not mean anything.
Valencia could be a stumbling block for Barcelona in the final later. It has been shown Valencia with two times offset Barcelona in two Spanish La Liga matches.
Placement of a good position and fast play from the wing side made Valencia successfully hold Barca 1-1 draw first round.
In the second round Valencia’s turn to play nicely from the middle sector which made Barcelona messy and conceded two goals. Although finally Barca could equalize to be 2-2.
After successfully thwarting Barcelona to win in two La Liga matches, Los Che will work hard to tackle Barca to win his second trophy this season in the final later.
“It’s normal for Barcelona to win matches, but in this one game we can do something,” said Valencia striker Kevin Gameiro.
“We met Barcelona twice in the league and did not lose. We could hurt them, we will prepare ourselves to win on Saturday,” Gameiro added.
Besides not losing to Barcelona in this season, Valencia also has several factors that can make them a nightmare for the club from Catalonia.
The club based at the Mestalla was thirsty for success. The last time Valencia won the trophy on 11 seasons ago, when winning the Copa del Rey 2007/2008.
Thus the final of the 2018/2019 Copa del Rey will not be wasted by Valencia. Marcelino’s team is believed to be going to appear all-out to win the trophy.
Valencia will also appear more confident in the final match after successfully winning a ticket to the Champions League next season. In the La Liga final standings, Valencia is ranked fourth with 61 points, two points ahead of Getafe.
Failure in the Europa League will make the Copa del Rey a place of redemption for Valencia. Valencia’s trip to the Europa League failed after losing 3-7 on aggregate to Arsenal in the semifinals.
With a line of capital above Valencia will play loose and without burden. In contrast to Barcelona who assume responsibility as a superior team and are required to win.
Nevertheless, even though they lost to Barcelona it would not be a bad result for Valencia. Because they can already enter the Champions League zone and reach the Europa League semifinals. Failed Copa del Rey champions will not be a burden for Valencia.
Therefore, Barcelona has no other choice but to retain the Copa del Rey title even though it is no longer meaningful to their supporters. Because failing to defend the King’s Cup title made Barcelona lose their reputation as a big Spanish club.
