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Here is your ultimate guide to the 2015 Copa Del Rey final—with all the tactics, information capsules, the flags of the respective teams, predicted lineups, interesting facts and much, much more from TheSportMatrix's Spanish football expert Adam Howl.
Flags
These sides will sport their colours come the cup final clash—but here are the flags behind them.
Basque
Catalan
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Barca can draw on last season's final when they were beaten by Real Madrid on the East Coast 2-1 thanks to a late Bale wonderful solo goal and that hurt them badly and it hurt the travelling Los Cules in Valencia very much.
Travelling to the East Coast to see your team lose in the Copa Final to your bitter rivals is hard to take and it's even more hard to take when it comes five minutes from the end of the 90 minutes and in a Copa Final that was an even one with no team really dominating and it took a wonderful solo run from Bale to decide it.
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| Graphic: Artefak.org |
The first half of this season though for Barca saw crisis after crisis, poor performance after poor performance, constant changing of the team from Luis Enrique and let's not forget that it took a defeat after the winter break away to La Real at Anoeta to start a full scale crisis at the club with Messi and Luis Enrique coming to blows and early elections being called for this summer.
Luis Enrique decided it would be great to take on Messi and after Messi stuck to his guns on the training ground Luis Enrique was left fuming and had made his mind up regarding hitting Messi with a big fine before being told by key players at the club including Xavi, Iniesta among others that it wasn't a good idea and Enrique was persuaded or perhaps warned otherwise not to give the fine.
Messi saw early elections called and he knows that even now they'll probably see the end of Luis Enrique and even possibly force Luis Enrique to walk way before the elections begin and he also saw Ronaldo claim the Ballon D'Or too and all this conspired and has given him the fuel and the adrenaline to put in nothing short of a superb season half of the season with consistent performances and goals added to boot.
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| Saturday's final emanates from the Camp Nou in Barcelona, although Barca won't be in the home dressing room. |
La Masia is a mess now and questions have to be asked in the summer really and it's not just because they are going to be relegated to the third tier of Spanish Football but it's the lack of players coming through to the first team and the fact that Barca's style of play under Enrique isn't the style of play that the players at La Masia are being developed playing.
Luis Suarez has been the signing of this season because it's given Messi and Neymar the freedom to play and also given them more spaces because opposition defenders in particular have realised that Suarez is the key to stopping Barca because he stretches defences given Messi and Neymar the freedom, the space and the time to punish any defence in the world.
If you don't allow Suarez to stretch you and manage to stop him you have a very good chance of stopping Barca as Messi and Neymar will have less space and time to punish you but you have another problem and that's Messi's ability to produce something out of nothing with pure genius and pure magic.
Even if you completely shut down Barca's front three which is the best in the world you have to find a way past Busquets, Xavi and Rakitic in that three man midfield and even if you did that you've then to find your way past Barca's best defence in some time possibly ever and then even if you manage all that you've to fire that ball past Bravo in the Barca goal who has the most clean sheets in Spanish Football this season and if he doesn't start you've got to face Ter Stegen who is slowly becoming one of the best young goalkeepers in the whole of Europe.
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| Busquets, Rakitic and others will be difficult to lock down. Image: FCBarcelona.com |
Aduriz's 18 goals in Spain this season saw him come away with the award for the top scoring Spaniard in La Liga this season and his 26 goals in all competitions this season for Bilbao have given him records and a goalscoring tally that for a 34 year old is quite remarkable.
Bilbao have had a poor season by their standards and going into the Champions League this season after qualifying for it by finishing fourth in La Liga this season seem to kill them and ever since they began in it their intensity in their play dropped, their performances dropped off completely and in turn their form nosedived.
Bilbao can look back on an improved second half to this season though where they managed to produce better performances on a more regular basis including a 1-0 home success over Real Madrid where Aduriz popped up to net.
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| A performance like their win against Real Madrid is vital for Bilbao. Image: EPA |
Bilbao won't be in the Catalan Capital to make up the numbers and even without Muniain through injury they provide a real threat to Barca and with the gem they've found from their academy in Inaki Williams they have some talent, this is a guy who not only has a tremendous amount of pace which could prove vital on the big pitch at Camp Nou but he also has the strength to hold off players and the skill and ability to beat a player and he provides a real threat to that Barca backline.
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| Inaki Williams has the potential to trouble Barca. Image: StarrFMOnline.com |
San Jose and Mikel Rico will sit and hold for Bilbao in a 4-2-3-1 set up with Aduriz up top and Williams and Iraola who plays his last ever game for the club on the flanks and Aketxe in behind Aduriz with the highly rated Laporte in a back four with Exteita, De Marcos and Balenziaga and Iraizoz in the goal for Bilbao.
Athletic Bilbao predicted lineup
Iraizoz
De Marcos
Exteita
Laporte
Balenziaga
San Jose
Mikel Rico
Williams
Aketxe
Iraola
Aduriz
Barcelona predicted lineup
For Barca the team picks itself apart from the goalkeeper as Luis Enrique may go with Ter Stegen in
goal but I feel that he'll go with Bravo in this one.
Bravo
Alves
Pique
Mascherano
Alba
Rakitic
Busquets
Iniesta
Messi
Suarez
Neymar
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| The lethal trio of Messi, Neymar and Suarez are expected to start in the final. Image: GalleryHip.com |
Barca have kept four clean sheets in the Copa Del Rey this season from their eight ties in total whilst Bilbao have kept four clean sheets from their eight ties this total, Barca have scored 32 goals conceding five goals on their way to the final and Bilbao have scored ten goals conceding six goals on their way to the final in Barcelona.
Abandonment?
This Copa Del Rey final is the final that Spain just doesn't want and many politicians have demanded that this final is abandoned if both sets of finals whistle when the Spanish National Anthem is played before kick-off.
The RFEF(Royal Spanish Football Federation) and the president of the LFP (Spanish League) Javier Tebas did warn that an abandonment wasn't totally out of the equation and could happen if the Spanish anthem is whistled during kick-off but as we all know the anthem will be booed.
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| Image: Weloba.com |
This is how seriously the Policia (Police) are taking the security and threat of trouble for this final and given that many years ago the Basque Country's terrorist group threatened to blow up a venue in the region if La Roja (Spanish Football team) ever played in the Basque Country.
This final will be a show of hatred for Spain and the people of the Basque and Catalan Regions will show their love for their regions, their beliefs and they will show how proud they are of their regions and I expect the 'Independencia' chants from the Catalan people to be absolutely deafening on Saturday night just like the whistles will be when the Spanish National Anthem is played prior to kick off.
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| Image: UChile.cl |
I find it so ironic that the game I went to at Camp Nou this season is now the Copa Final at the same venue and I will always have fond memories of my time in September in the best city in the world and it was some weekend giving me memories I will keep with me forever.
The game I saw was a tight one with Bilbao having plenty of chances to win it and it took until late on for Barca to really look like scoring and that was due to Neymar coming on and he changed the game and Barca saw the game out 2-0 winners but the result looked in the balance throughout and Barca won it late on.
I really do expect a very similar game in this final and it's not a sure Barca win because Bilbao have the quality in attack and in a one off game on the night they can upset Barca and lift the Copa a 24th time believe me but the service to Aduriz and Williams has to be right and will be key to Bilbao's chances.
This will be a brilliant final at a truly special venue in the best city in the world and Camp Nou and the Catalan Capital will be a truly brilliant host and it is truly fitting to have a Copa Del Rey Final between the two most successful and most decorated sides in the history of the competition.
I do feel though that Barca will use the experience of last season's heartbreak on the East Coast and their desire to win the treble in Xavi's last season at the club to their advantage here and see off Bilbao by two goals and win their 27th Copa Del Rey title in the process.
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| Image: MessiNews.net |
- Barcelona to win in 90 minutes
- Barcelona to lift the trophy
- Barcelona to score over 1.5 goals
- Barcelona to win with under 3.5 goals scored in the match
- Barca -1
- Barcelona to win to nil/keep a clean sheet
- Luis Suarez to score anytime for Barcelona (if he starts)
- Barcelona to win 2-0 (small stakes recommended on correct scoreline)
- This year's Copa Del Rey between Bilbao and Barca is the first Copa final played between a Basque and Catalan side since 2012 when Barca were 3-0 winners in the Spanish Capital at the Vicente Calderon.
- This is also quite a special final because Bilbao and Barca are the most successful sides in the Copa Del Rey's history with Barca winning it 26 times and Bilbao winning it 23 times, Barca have been losing finalists ten times whilst Bilbao have been losing finalists 13 times.
- This will be Bilbao's 37th Copa Del Rey Final and Barca's 37th too, Barca lost the final 2-1 to Real Madrid in Valencia last season and Bilbao were last in the final in 2012 when they lost 3-0 to Barca at the Calderon and haven't won the Copa since 1984 when they beat Barca 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Spanish Capital.
- Both sides have sold their allocations of 37,500 for this match with the other 24,000 tickets going to the RFEF (Royal Spanish Football Federation) and Bilbao will be in the home dressing room for this one with Barca occupying the away dressing room at their own stadium giving them unusual surroundings.
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| Barca will prepare in the away dressing room of their home stadium. |
- Barca won the Copa in 2012, Atleti followed suit by winning it in 2013 then their city rivals Real Madrid won it in 2014 so history would suggest that a pattern could continue here with a different winner four seasons straight by Bilbao winning it in the Catalan Capital to win it in 2015.
- This is the first Copa Del Rey final to be held at Camp Nou since 2010 when Sevilla beat Atleti 2-0 and it's only the second time the Copa Final has been held at Camp Nou since 1970.
- Bilbao are already in next season's Europa League through qualifying for it by finishing seventh in La Liga this season so there's no possible European place at stake here in this Copa Final so Bilbao don't need to win to qualify for Europe but they will be desperate to win the Copa for a 24th time and in the process kill Barca's treble.
- 11 of the last 15 Copa Finals have been settled in 90 minutes with four of them being settled in extra time and a Copa Final hasn't been decided via a penalty shoot-out since Barca's success in Valencia against Mallorca in 1998.
- Nine of the last fifteen Copa Del Rey finals has seen at least three goals in them and Both Teams have scored in ten of the last fifteen Copa Del Rey finals but for me this doesn't give a great prediction of how this final is likely to play out.
- Aspas is the top scorer in this season's Copa Del Rey with seven goals for Sevilla and just behind is Neymar on six goals and two goals for Neymar here will see him come away with the top scorer award in the Copa this season and he's Barca's top scorer in this competition this season with fellow team mate Pedro behind him with five goals.
- Bilbao's top scorer in this season's Copa is the third top scorer in the competition and just behind Neymar with five goals scored and his 18 goals this season has played a huge part in them securing European Football and them reaching this final.
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| Neymar's double helped Barca past Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals. Image: IbiTimes |
- Athletic Club Bilbao have played in La Liga every single season and never been relegated from Spain's top flight.
- They are the second most successful team in the history of the Copa Del Rey with 23 Copa Del Rey titles behind Barca's 26
- Athletic Club Bilbao only sign Basque Born players meaning they don't have the ability to sign players good enough to challenge Spain's big two due to their loyalty to their beliefs and the Basque Only rule they impose on themselves.
- Athletic Club Bilbao have eight La Liga titles to their name aswell as 23 Copa Del Rey's and one Spanish Super Cup.
- Athletic Club Bilbao is one of four clubs in La Liga owned and ran by club members.
- Athletic Club Bilbao were formed 117 years ago.
- FC Barcelona were formed in 1899 by footballers from Switzerland, England and Catalonia.
- FC Barcelona are a club who are a forefront for the independence movement of Catalonia in their continued battle to leave Spain.
- FC Barcelona are owned by their own supporters.
- FC Barcelona were founding members of La Liga with Athletic Club Bilbao and Real Madrid.
- Since forming in 1899 FC Barcelona have won 23 La Liga titles, 26 Copa Del Rey's, 11 Spanish Super Cups, four European Cup Winners Cup, four Champions Leagues, four European Super Cups and two FIFA Club World Cups.
- This is Xavi's last game for FC Barcelona and is eyeing up his 24th trophy as a FC Barcelona player.
- Messi, Xavi and Iniesta have been the key to FC Barcelona's success over the last few years and made history for the club by all coming through La Masia.
- FC Barcelona became the first ever club to win all six competitions they were involved in a season when they won the Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, La Liga, Copa Del Rey, Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup in 2009.
- In 2010 FC Barcelona were winners of the Champions League yet again and won five trophies in and have before reached six Champions League Semi-Finals consecutively and won 14 trophies in their four years under Guardiola's management
We are set and ready, and now await the sounding of the whistle at the Nou Camp. Can Barcelona continue their course to a treble? Or will Athletic Bilbao spoil the party on enemy turf?
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| Image: PixShark.com |
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