The loss in the quarterfinals of the Golden Cup against Benfica by former Barça players Pablo Álvarez and Lucas Ordóñez It tasted like a burnt horn within a Barça that is completing a great campaign but that has already missed two titles.
Outstanding leader at the conclusion of the regular phase of the OK Liga with 73 points in 26 games (they have only given up one draw and one defeat) while waiting for the new play-offs for the title, the team led by Edu Castro fell in the final of the Spanish Super Cup against Deportivo Liceo (3-2) on September 12. Just a week before, the azulgrana team had beaten Finques Prats Lleida in the final of the Catalan League (8-2).
Therefore, this recent elimination in the European tournament, which should be the embryo of the new European Cup together with the loss in last year’s final also at the hands of Liceo (3-2) becomes the Final Eight of the Copa del Rey that begins this Thursday at the Pavelló Onze de Setembre in Lleida is presented as an excellent opportunity for Edu Castro’s men to get even.
The current cup runner-up will begin this Thursday the assault on his 24th title in the 78th edition of the tournament at 6:45 p.m. (Barça TV, Esport3) in the second quarter-final match against Recam Làser CH Caldes, who will also be the rival in the OK Liga quarter-finals.
Pau Bargalló, the great ‘magician’ of Barça
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For that part of the table, also this Thursday at 1:30 p.m. CE Noia Freixenet and PAS Alcoi will face each other (Esport3). The rooms are completed on Friday on the other side with the Liceo-Reus Deportiu Virginias (6:00 p.m.) and with the Finques Prats Lleida-Parlem Calafell (8:30 p.m.).
rhythm key
The Copa del Rey has been in a phase in which all teams lack competitive pace due to the specifics of the calendar in the third season marked by covid.
Since that aforementioned defeat on penalties against Benfica in the Golden Cup on April 14, Barça has only played one match that ended with a hard-fought victory on the Parlem Calafell court by 1-3 at the close of the regular phase of the OK Liga, with goals from Ignacio Alabart, Joao Rodrigues and Pau Bargalló.
In this way, Catalan Pau Bargalló will once again lead the Barça attack in a season in which he is again the great candidate for the MVP of the season. He is the top scorer in the OK Liga (39) and the best assistant (31).
Edu Castro and Panadero speak
Despite the fact that the forecasts invite us to think about another duel against Liceo in the final, the Copa del Rey does not allow relaxation and forces us to win three finals to lift the title. In this way, the renewed Barça coach Edu Castro (until 2024) stressed that the format of the tournament “is very concentrated and the setting (Onze de Setembre) is ideal. If there is no Thursday (for today), there is no next game. Therefore, we have all five senses focused on this afternoon’s match against Caldes”.
Edu Castro fully trusts his team
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“We face this Cup with the maximum illusion. We really want to compete again for an important title, which also comes to us at a very advanced stage of the season & rdquor ;, added the Catalan coach.
For its part, Sergi Panadero stressed that in the Cup “there is no margin for error. We hope to get off to a good start against an opponent who will force us to give our best. The two teams know each other very well. Caldes has kept the same block and the same coach for years & rdquor ;.
“We ask the fans to trust us. We will give everything to make them proud and we will try to take this Cup home & rdquor ;, added the forward of a Barça team eager to lift the second title of the season.