Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona, Copa del Rey: Match Thread, Live Updates
Join us for a huge Barcelona Copa del Rey adventure!
23’ SUBSTITUTION: Barça lose yet another important player as Alejandro Balde is forced off with an apparent right hamstring injury and is replaced by Héctor Fort at left-back.
1’ GOAL, Athletic 1-0 Barcelona (Guruzeta): Athletic take the lead. A cross comes into the box, Barça make a mess of the clearance at the far post and the ball falls to Gorka Guruzeta who puts the home team in front just 40 seconds into the game.
KICKOFF! Athletic 0-0 Barcelona: And we’re underway in Bilbao!
WELCOME TO THE ESTADIO DE SAN MAMÉS!!! This spectacular football cathedral in beautiful Bilbao in the Basque Country is the site of a monster Copa del Rey quarter-final tie between Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona, who to renew their longtime rivalry with a spot in the Spanish Cup semi-finals at stake. Barça come into this one in good spirits after a wonderful win away to Real Betis, but are facing one of their biggest tests yet this season against Ernesto Valverde’s high-pressing, high-flying Athletic side. This should be all kinds of fun, and you’re welcome to join us to follow and comment all the action. Vamos!
(Note: the comments will be open only when the team news come out, because our commenter people love commenting and sometimes there are too many comments in the comments section)
LINEUPS
BARCELONA
Starting XI: Peña; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde; Gündogan, De Jong; Yamal, Pedri, Ferran; Lewandowski (4-2-3-1)
Substitutes: Astralaga (GK), Yaakobishvili (GK), Cubarsí, Cancelo, Fort, Romeu, Roberto, Fermín, Félix, Roque, Guiu
ATHLETIC BILBAO
Starting XI: Agirrezabala; Lekue, Vivian, Paredes, Yuri; Prados, Vesga; Ares, Sancet, N. Williams; Guruzeta (4-2-3-1)
Substitutes: Simón (GK), Yeray, I. Williams, Muniain, De Marcos, Villalibre, Herrera, García, Nolaskoain, Gómez, Jauregizar
MATCH INFO
Competition/Round: 2023-24 Copa del Rey, Quarter-Finals
Date/Time: Wednesday, January 24, 2024, 9.30pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8.30pm GMT (UK), 3.30pm ET, 12.30pm PT (USA), 2am IST (India, Thursday)
Venue: Estadio San Mamés, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
Referee: José María Sánchez Martínez
VAR: Eduardo Prieto Iglesias
HOW TO WATCH
On TV: Startimes World Football (Nigeria), TVE (Spain), others
Online: ESPN+ (USA), FanCode (India), others
Matchday Thread Rules
We don’t have a lot of rules here, but there are a few things to keep in mind when joining our matchday threads:
Even if the referee sucks or we lose the game, watch the swearing. It’s just unnecessary. Also, don’t discuss illegal streaming links. Those who do it will be warned, and those who post links will be instantly banned. Finally, be nice to each other. This is a Barcelona community and we don’t need to offend one another.
Have fun with the game! Forever and ever, no matter the competition, VISCA EL BARÇA!
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