FC Barcelona News: 9 February 2018; Barcelona Reach Copa del Rey Final

Valencia 0-2 FC Barcelona (0-3 on aggregate): Cup finalists once again! | FC Barcelona
Does this team ever stop breaking records? It would seem not and February 8 produced yet another memorable night for the all-conquering blaugrana. FC Barcelona have become the first team to ever reach five Spanish Cup finals in a row, where they’ll have the chance to make it four titles in a row when they meet Sevilla on April 21 at a venue to be decided.

Barça become first team to reach 5th straight Copa del Rey Final | FC Barcelona
With a 0-3 aggregate win over Valencia in the Copa del Rey semifinals, FC Barcelona has now reached the tournament’s Final for the fifth consecutive season, an all-time record. Since the cup competition in Spain was founded in 1903, only four other clubs in history — besides Barça — have reached the final four times in a row.

HIGHLIGHTS: Valencia v Barça | FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona have shown an insatiable desire to claim a fourth Copa del Rey title in a row. In the second leg of the semi-final in Mestalla, Ernesto Valverde’s team saw off Valencia with goals from Coutinho and Rakitic, both strikes coming in the second half.

Ernesto Valverde: ‘We deserve it’ | FC Barcelona
“Our opponents and their whole city were very much up for this game … We dominated tonight although they did have their chances. But we deserved to qualify. I would have preferred to have had the game sorted out earlier … If Valencia hadn’t hit the crossbar they would have been right back in the tie.”

Copa del Rey final, 21 April | FC Barcelona
Barça are in the Copa del Rey final yet again. Ernesto Valverde’s team have seen off Valencia in the semi-finals of the competition and will face Sevilla in the final after Vincezo Montella’s team defeated Leganés in the other semi-final. The blaugranes will be looking for their 30th Copa del Rey title and their fourth in a row in the competition.

Barca want Copa final date switch | Football Espana
Barcelona are considering asking for a switch in the date of their Copa del Rey final against Sevilla due to fixture congestion fears. The final has been scheduled by the Spanish FA (RFEF) for 21 April, with the semi-finals of the Champions League set to be played between 23-24 April.

The scoring starts for FC Barcelona’s Brazilian stars | FC Barcelona
Philippe Coutinho had only been on the pitch for a matter of minutes as a second half substitute in Thursday’s cup semi-final second leg against Valencia and he had already got his name on the scoresheet.

Every Barça goal in this year’s Copa del Rey | FC Barcelona
Along the way, they have scored a total of 19 goals, with scoring duties shared between Messi, Suárez and Jose Arnaiz (with 3 apiece), Paco Alcácer and Rakitic (2 each), Piqué, Jordi Alba, Aleix Vidal, Coutinho, Denis Suárez and Deulofeu (with 1 each).

Luis Suarez feeling ‘spectacular’ after recovering from Barcelona injury woe | ESPN
Luis Suarez is revelling in his “spectacular” form after admitting that he struggled psychologically earlier in the season due to a niggling knee injury. The Barcelona striker injured a knee in the Super Cup defeat to Real Madrid in August and was initially ruled out for a month, but he came back more than two weeks earlier than planned in an attempt to aid Uruguay’s World Cup qualification bid.

Yerry Mina makes FC Barcelona debut | FC Barcelona
Yerry Mina has finally made his FC Barcelona debut. The Colombian centre back came on for Gerard Piqué to play the final six minutes at Mestalla, telling Barça TV afterwards that “I thank God, my team-mates, the directors and the fans for giving me the chance to be here. I want to keep working and gradually get my feet back on the ground and continue learning from my team-mates.”

Barca linked to Roma’s Florenzi | Football Espana
Roma midfielder and Italy international Alessandro Florenzi has emerged as a possible transfer target for Barcelona, according to reports. The 26-year-old’s contract at the Serie A club expires in June 2019 and a report in Italian outlet Il Corriere claims the Blaugrana have joined the list of clubs interested.

Barcelona’s Oriol Busquets set to miss rest of season after knee injury | ESPN
Barcelona B midfielder Oriol Busquets is set to miss the rest of the season after tearing a knee meniscus in training on Wednesday. Barca confirmed that Busquets would undergo surgery and Diario Sport reported that he will be sidelined for up to five months.

Source: barcablaugranes.com