Copa del Rey 23/24

[Messi983]

Read somewhere that in the last 6 editions , with this one counted , there will be 6 different winners in the Copa del Rey.

That's rather amazing.

Yes, also 8 different teams have played in the final since 2018/19 season. Only Bilbao (this will be their third final, they've lost previous two), Barca and Valencia (both a win and a loss) have played more than once.

Changing format of competition to one-leg elimination games in all phases but semi-final has really made Copa much more interesting.

Also, whoever will win is waiting for this title for a long time. Bilbao have last won Copa exactly 40 years ago (1983/84) which is also when they won their last La Liga title.

OTOH Mallorca won their only Copa in 2002/03 when they've had a great team with Eto'o (he scored twice in final against Recreativo Huelva that year), Pandiani, Ibagaza, Albert Riera, Miguel Angel Nadal,... That's also one of of only two trophies in their history alongside Supercopa 1998 if we exclude winning Segunda or Segunda B.

Tbf they've made big progress in last few seasons. They were playing in Segunda B just 6 seasons ago and now they have a chance to get into Europe. Still have to avoid relegation though which I think they should do.

I've liked Mallorca since that team mentioned above and I'll be fine with whoever wins the final but will support our Mister and the Williams brothers. Basques really deserve to get their hands on a "big" trophy (not counting Supercopa they've won twice in last 9 years).

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

Read somewhere that in the last 6 editions , with this one counted , there will be 6 different winners in the Copa del Rey.

That's rather amazing.

since 19/20 Bilbao has been always in final, this club loves the Copa

 

[Andresito]

Wow Athletic haven't won for 40 years? Crazy. Always had the impression Copa was 'their' trophy. Won it more than Madrid though.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Wow Athletic haven't won for 40 years? Crazy. Always had the impression Copa was 'their' trophy. Won it more than Madrid though.

It was their trophy, they had 23 titles while we had 20 and RM 15 when they won it in 1984.
Barca added 11 titles since then, surpassing them, while RM added 5 closing the gap.

They lost final in 1985, then had long dry period. But this final is their 6th in 16 years.
Will be huge disappointment if they lose another one.

 

[iniestaGOAT]

It was their trophy, they had 23 titles while we had 20 and RM 15 when they won it in 1984.
Barca added 11 titles since then, surpassing them, while RM added 5 closing the gap.

They lost final in 1985, then had long dry period. But this final is their 6th in 16 years.
Will be huge disappointment if they lose another one.

They will get spanked and it will forver be known as BARCA;'s trophy

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

Wow Athletic haven't won for 40 years? Crazy. Always had the impression Copa was 'their' trophy. Won it more than Madrid though.

Dont worry, Mister loves to end curses

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

Atletico is having a crap season, no Super Copa, no Copa, no la liga and probably no Cl

time for no Simeone

 

[khaled_a_d]

They will get spanked and it will forver be known as BARCA;'s trophy

With 8 more titles, I won't mind them getting one. We have enough leeway to not worry about it.

 

[Morten]

Atletico is having a crap season, no Super Copa, no Copa, no la liga and probably no Cl

time for no Simeone

They won the game that mattered for them, against us, they will live on that for rest of the season.

 

[Don Juan Laporta Estruch]

They won the game that mattered for them, against us, they will live on that for rest of the season.

And that's why we love them.

 

[Morten]

And that's why we love them.

They hand you 6 free points, take 4 of us, and the table is still not that close, bit sad.

 

[Don Juan Laporta Estruch]

They hand you 6 free points, take 4 of us, and the table is still not that close, bit sad.

6 free points is small compared to the 15 free points you get from the refs. Lovely offside goal at the weekend in the VAR era.

All together now " Asi asi ....... "

 

[Morten]

6 free points is small compared to the 15 free points you get from the refs. Lovely offside goal at the weekend in the VAR era.

All together now " Asi asi ....... "

Didn't you get a million extra minutes recently, dodgy re-take penalty, to win against some scrubs?

And again, you are the one's with an actual case against you, maybe one day we will find out why we didn't get a penalty at camp nou for 8 or so straight seasons...

 

[Horatio]

Didn't you get a million extra minutes recently, dodgy re-take penalty, to win against some scrubs?

And again, you are the one's with an actual case against you, maybe one day we will find out why we didn't get a penalty at camp nou for 8 or so straight seasons...

Only hear to share penalty retake was anything but dodgy. Keeper was way off his line. Check it out.

 

[Messi983]

We have also seen it more that changing coaches ends worse when issues is actuallythe squad.

This Atletico side has a board with no ambition but CL qualifications on regular basis and they are putting a squad that is just good enough for that, and it is only because other Liga clubs who should compete are abysmal now (The Sevilla, Villarreal etc).

Their squad problem is a valid issue, you can't build a team with Witsel as starting CB playing beside Savic in a team that is defensively oriented. You are building attack around Griezmann and Morata like it is 2016, a midfield with the likes of Koke and Saul.

It is old, slow mediocre squad at best, that have few above average players that is keeping it a float, that was build in the most awful manner. They don't have enough squad depth to be playing those extra CL, super cup game, while their rivals are more rested.

I don't think they have a single outfield player that would start for the top 3 clubs in EPL, and even in RM, Bayern or even Barca I doubt there will be more than two.

Maybe thet could improve if they nail a perfect replacement, but for a club like Atletico the chances of that are very low.

PS: Regarding Xavi, he hand picked the squad we have and was given massive funds in 2022. He has no coaching history except last year Liga titles to make someone believe it could get better, and Barca isn't a club for long term coaching. It is totally different situation. And despite all the issues we have we can attract top coaches unlike Atletico.

Tbf they have started to rebuild the team. Brought back Lino and Riquelme from successfull loans and they are doing ok eventhough they are playing out of positions. Pablo Barrios also played a lot of minutes when healthy. And they've spent 20m on Vermeeren who will probably use remainder of this season for adaptation but get more important role next year.

As for forwards they have Samu Omorodion doing well on loan at Alaves so will probably give him a chance next year. They could use a younger striker and he's a different profile to what they have in Griezz, Morata and Memphis (he and/or Correa could leave too).

Defense is most problematic but most defenders - Witsel, Savic, Hermoso, Azpi, Paulista - are out of contracts in summer (so is Koke but they'll probably renew him). No idea how much money they can spend but pretty sure they'll make some significant changes in defense.