The standards are so high at Barcelona that there are doubts over the strength of their side despite being on the brink of a domestic double. What’s more, they’re unbeaten 33 games into a 38-game La Liga season. This weekend, they turn their attention to the other half of that aforementioned double when they face Sevilla in the Copa Del Rey final.
Barcelona have the chance to equal a record run of Copa Del Rey wins with three successive successes already under their belt. If they managed a fourth then they’ll match a feat accomplished by Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, the most recent of those quadruples being done in the thirties. Yet there isn’t much love for this overachieving Barca side.
Ernesto Valverde will be judged harshly due to his failure in the Champions League. A mighty failure it was, too. Could Sevilla add to their woes? The two sides clashed in the final two years and Barca won in extra-time. Will Lionel Messi drag them past the erratic Andalusians? We think so but Sevilla have enough in them to force extra-time again.
