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FULL-TIME, Athletic 4-2 Barcelona (AET): A heartbreaking Cup exit against Athletic at San Mamés for the third time in the last five years. Barça fought until the end, but Ernesto Valverde’s troops found a way to win at home again.
120+1’ GOAL, Athletic 4-2 Barcelona (N. Williams): Athletic kill off the game on the counter as Nico Williams uses the outside of his right foot to curl the ball into the top corner and settle the tie.
105+2’ Athletic 3-2 Barcelona (I. Williams): Athletic retake the lead in the final play of the first half of extra time. Asier Villalibre’s pass is deflecgted onto the path of Iñaki Williams, who initially hits the post but taps home his own rebound.
EXTRA TIME KICKOFF! Athletic 2-2 Barcelona: And we’re underway for 30 more minutes of an epic Cup tie at San Mamés!
END OF REGULATION, Athletic 2-2 Barcelona: Both teams had chances to score the winner in regulation and Lamine Yamal wasted two golden opportunities late in the second half, but 90 minutes are not enough to separate these two and we are going to extra time.
49’ GOAL, Athletic 2-2 Barcelona (Sancet): Athletic equalize. Nico Williams puts a cross into the box, Iñaki Peña does not come out to claim it and Oihan Sancet is free to head the ball home.
SECOND HALF KICKOFF! Athletic 1-2 Barcelona: Back underway at San Mamés!
HALFTIME, Athletic 1-2 Barcelona: After a nightmare start Barça showed great composure to keep playing, find their way back in the game and eventually go into the break with the lead. Athletic are really good and this one is far from over, but the Catalans are in a good position to book a spot in the semis if they manage the game well in the second half.
32’ GOAL!!!! Athletic 1-2 Barcelona (Yamal): BARÇA TAKE THE LEAD!!! The comeback is complete at the half-hour mark as Lamine Yamal goes on a sensational solo run on the right wing, cuts inside on his favorite left foot and fires a gorgeous curler into the bottom corner! WHAT A GOAL!!!
26’ GOAL!!! Athletic 1-1 Barcelona (Lewandowski): BARÇA EQUALIZE!!! A beautiful long ball from Andreas Christensen finds Ferran Torres who takes a gorgeous touch and plays a beautiful pass to Pedri inside the box, and after the magician is dispossessed the attempted clearance hits Robert Lewandowski and goes into the net! It’s a weird goal, but we’ll take it!
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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