In a bizarre fixture, Athletic Club aka Athletic Bilbao will play their second Copa del Rey final on Sunday (India time) after losing to Real Sociedad a fortnight ago. And their opponents this time, for the 2020-2021 edition, are Barcelona - the most successful side in the history of Copa del Rey. (More Football News)
Athletic held the all-time record with 23 wins. But Barca surpassed Athletic’s record wins in 1998, and have added another seven titles to lift the trophy 30 times. Barca and Athletic have appeared in 42 and 39 finals respectively.
Here are the confirmed line-ups:
Athleic Bilbao XI: Simon; De Marcos, Yeray, Martínez, Balenziaga; Berenguer, Garcia, Lopez, Muniain; Williams, R. Garcia.
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Bench: Ezkieta (GK), Morcillo, Nunez, Vesga, Lekue, Yuri, Villalibre, Capa, Vencedor.
Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen; Mingueza, Pique, Lenglet; Dest, De Jong, Busquets, Pedri, Alba; Messi, Griezmann
Bench: Inaki Pena (GK), Arnau (GK), Araujo, Umtiti, Roberto, Moriba, Trincão, Dembele, Braithwaite.
After losing to Real Sociedad in the delayed 2019-20 final, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, by a solitary goal in Seville, Marcelino's side will hope for a change of fortunes when they take on Roland Koeman's Barca.
Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets could both play in their tenth Copa del Rey finals, a competition record.
Head-to-head: This will be their 232nd meeting, with Barcelona winning 116 times to Athletic's 77. In Copa del Rey, Barca have won 23 times in 42 meetings. Athletic's win count in the cup is 13.
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Match and telecast details:
Match: Copa del Rey 2020-21 final match between Athletic Club and Barcelona.
Date: April 18 (Sunday), 2021
Time: 1:00 AM IST/21:30 PM local time (Saturday)
There will be no live telecast of the match in India.
Possible starting XIs:
Athletic: Simon; De Marcos, Nunez, Martinez, Lekue; Berenguer, Vencedor, Garcia, Muniain; R. Garcia, Williams.
Barca: Ter Stegen; Mingueza, Araujo, Lenglet, Alba; De Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Dembele, Messi, Griezmann.
