14′ Vass manages to outmuscle Coutinho at the last moment before the ex-Liverpool playmaker could muster a chance for himself after being played in by Arthur.
12′ Coquelin does very well to dispossess the roving Semedo with a timed sliding challenge. The Barca full-back can only foul Gaya in retaliation following the ex-Arsenal man’s interception.
11′ Messi jinks past one player in white before losing the ball, with Rodrigo picking it up with purpose as he runs towards the Barca half. Play tamely ends soon afterwards with the Blaugrana winning a throw-in.
9′ Arthur scoops the ball towards the onrushing Semedo who manages to win a corner off of Gaya following some pressure from the Valencia left-back. The set-piece is played short but Alba plays it all the way back to Semedo near the centre circle.
7′ Garay clears with aplomb as Coutinho attempts once more to wriggle his way inside a crowded Los Ches penalty area.
5′ RODRIGO MISSES AN ABSOLUTE SITTER! Lenglet is caught napping by Gameiro before the latter plays in his strike partner, who leaves Cillessen for dead and only has the goal at his mercy but for a goal-line block by Pique! An early warning for the Blaugrana there!
4′ Messi’s first touch is a languid pass out wide to Roberto. The ball soon goes out to Coutinho who loses the ball just before he attempted to run into Los Ches’ box.
3′ Valencia’s defenders win the ball back inside their penalty area after Semedo attempted to drive through into the box following Pique’s ball.
2′ Busquets rolls the ball out to Lenglet and the centre-back passes forward only to receive it back. Expect a lot of ball-hogging from Barca as they look to pass and probe around for any opening whatsoever.
1′ Both sides are out in their iconic colours, with Barca in claret-and-blue while Valencia, looking for their first Copa del Rey win since 2008, are kitted in all-white.
1′ Referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco blows his whistle, and Barca get us underway at the Benito Villamarin!
The players are out and kick-off is drawing near.
Each of the last five Copa Del Rey finals have seen at least one team fail to score before half-time.
Marcelino also makes two changes from the team that finished their season off strongly at Real Valladolid with a 2-0 win over the weekend, with Garay back to partner Gabriel at the heart of Los Ches’ backline ahead of Diakhaby. Mina is also dropped to the bench as Gameiro returns up top alongside Rodrigo.
Valverde makes two changes from the side that ended their title-winning campaign at Eibar with a 2-2 draw last Saturday, with Vidal and Malcom benched in favour of youngster Arthur and the returning Coutinho who was previously sidelined with injury. Cillessen also retains his spot as the Blaugrana’s cup goalkeeper, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen still absent with a knee problem.
SUBSTITUTES: Geoffrey Kondogbia, Neto, Ferran Torres, Mouctar Diakhaby, Cristiano Piccini, Toni Lato, Santi Mina.
VALENCIA XI (4-4-2): Jaume Domenech; Daniel Wass, Ezequiel Garay, Gabriel, Jose Gaya; Carlos Soler, Daniel Parejo (c), Francis Coquelin, Goncalo Guedes; Rodrigo Moreno, Kevin Gameiro.
SUBSTITUTES: Inaki Pena, Samuel Umtiti, Thomas Vermaelen, Carles Alena, Arturo Vidal, Carles Perez, Malcom.
BARCELONA XI (4-3-3): Jasper Cillessen; Nelson Semedo, Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba; Arthur, Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic; Sergi Roberto, Lionel Messi (c), Coutinho.
And without further ado, let’s take a look at how both sides line up, starting with the hosts.
However, the favourites have struggled to put away Valencia this season, having drawn in each of their two league matches against each other. After struggling in the first few months of La Liga, Los Ches managed to rise up the table and finish fourth with three league wins in a row to end their season on a high, and gaffer Marcelino will be aware of the momentum his side have despite the task that lays ahead for them.
Barcelona, who are the defending champions, will be seeking their fourth domestic double in five years after a disappointing end to their Champions League campaign which saw them lose 4-3 on aggregate against Liverpool despite being 3-0 up after the first leg. Head coach Ernesto Valverde will be without some of his key players for the final, but the La Liga winners should be confident of retaining a trophy that they had won four consecutive times prior to the match.
Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the Copa del Rey final as Barcelona and Valencia prepare to duke it out for domestic honours at the Benito Villamarin in Sevilla!
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