Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona: tips, prognosis & odds - SPAIN: Copa del Rey - 04/17/2021 Free soccer tips
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Athletic Bilbao - Barcelona: tips, prognosis and odds - SPAIN: Copa del Rey
Final of the record winners: Barcelona (30 cup triumphs) and Athletic Bilbao (23), Spain’s two Copa title hamsters, will meet on Saturday evening at the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville.
It is fair to say that both clubs will not go into this year's Copa del Rey final in the best shape.
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Barça lost the Clasico to arch rivals Real Madrid just last weekend, which meant they fell behind in the championship race.
Athletic Bilbao is also not exactly brimming with confidence in the cup final. In the league they have been waiting for a win for a few weeks, but the recently lost Copa final of the 2019/20 season, which they lost 1-0 to Basque rivals Real Sociedad two weeks ago, is even worse.
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Both teams want to forget the two blows in the neck against their arch-rivals in this final and celebrate a small liberation with the cup victory.
This is one of the reasons why the game has a special charm. Nevertheless, the starting position is pretty clear: The favorite role is with Barça, as the odds make clear before Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona.
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If you want to find out more about the game in which both want to take revenge, so to speak, you should listen to our Talk & Tips podcast. Because in the latest episode, in addition to the Bundesliga games of the weekend, there is also a detailed discussion of Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona - including tips, prognoses and a lot of expertise from our two experts.
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Athletic Bilbao - stats & current form
Believe it or not, the Athletic Club has been waiting for a big title since 1984 - not counting the victories in the less important Spanish Supercup (most recently this January, against FC Barcelona).
In the 1983/84 season, the proud Basque club won the championship and Copa del Rey double, since then there have only been bankruptcies in finals and no major title wins, either nationally or internationally.
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The recent bankruptcy against Real Sociedad in the cup final last season was doubly bitter, as it came in the historic final against their Basque arch-rivals.
For the future, however, the final against Barça is more important because: If Bilbao wins, the Basques will play in the Europa League next season. If they lose, they will most likely not make it internationally. Because in the league the European places are out of reach. In the La Ligas table, Bilbao are only on a disappointing 11th place and are nine points behind 7th place, which would at least qualify for participation in the UEFA Conference League if Barça won the Cup.
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Athletic Bilbao hard to beat
So the league's going to be more of a move into international business, the cup win is a must for that. Anyone who believes in it will find a whopping 3.80 for the tip on Bilbao's cup victory at Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona from bookmaker 888sport, for example. 888sport also offers a lucrative 100% bonus up to € 100.
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But it should be noted: The shape of the Basques has not been great in recent weeks, even if you can hardly be beaten. Although coach Marcelino's team has been undefeated in nine league games, they have only won two of them. All other games ended in a draw, including the last four in a row.
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If there's a draw in the final after 90 minutes, odds of an average of 4.50 are waiting for you at Athletic Bilbao vs. Barcelona.
Expected formation of Athletic Bilbao:
Simon - de Marcos, Alvarez, Martinez, Berchiche - Berenguer, Garcia, Vencedor, Muniain - Garcia, Williams
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Barcelona - statistics & current form
FC Barcelona also have to shake off a setback against their big rivals first: It remains to be seen whether Messi and Co. have already shed the Clasico bankruptcy against Real Madrid last weekend.
Because with this a sensational series ended: Barcelona were undefeated for 19 league games until the duel with Real, lastly five wins in a row.
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Whether the 1: 2 against the Madrilenians will have a big impact on the self-confidence of the Blaugrana remains to be seen - at least with the bookmakers, that will probably have a marginal impact at best. Because before the final duel between Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona, the odds of the best betting providers speak a clear language.
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Of course, Barcelona favored in the cup final
Ronald Koeman's team is clearly favored, which is certainly not surprising. And yet that doesn't have to mean a lot, as was already evident in the Supercopa duel in January. At that time, the game went into overtime, where Bilbao had the longer breath and narrowly prevailed 3-2.
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The main reason, apart from Barça's recent strong winning streak, is of course Messi himself. The Argentine scored 20 goals in the last 20 league games. Since he recently went empty-handed against both Valladolid and Real Madrid, one can certainly assume that it is time for a Messi goal again.
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Expected formation of Barcelona:
Ter Stegen - Mingueza, Araujo, Lenglet - Dest, De Jong, Busquets, Alba - Messi, Dembélé, Griezmann
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Direct comparison / H2H
The two clubs will meet for the fourth time this season. It is actually the second cup final with this pairing this season. Barcelona and Bilbao had already dueled in the Spanish Supercup at the end of January, when the Basques prevailed in a dramatic final 3-2 after extra time.
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Meanwhile, FC Barcelona won the two league games: They also met here in January, first Barça won 3-2 in Bilbao, then 2-1 at their home camp Nou.
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The final is also the meeting of the permanent finalists, as they will meet for the ninth time in a Copa final. While Barça want revenge for the lost Supercup final, the Athletic Club want to finally beat their fiasco in Copa finals.
Because Barça has won six of the eight final duels so far. Most recently, the Catalans triumphed in 2014/15, 2011/12 and 2008/09 against the Athletic Club three times in a row in the final. And there is also Athletics' most recent cup failure against Real Sociedad two weeks ago, which meant that Bilbao lost all of its four cup finals in the last twelve years.
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Bet base forecast & Spain Athletic Bilbao - Barcelona Spain tip
Although Barcelona are understandably the favorites in the final, we don't expect one thing to be clear, on the contrary. All three duels this season between the two clubs were extremely close.
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Especially in knockout games, Bilbao, which is already strong in combat, still adds a few extra percent, even if you can't keep up with Barça in terms of play, of course.
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And yet the Basques often enough know how to get the Blaugrana, see for example the Supercopa final. Since the Athletic Club also wants to take its big and supposedly last chance to participate in the European Cup and finally want to end its misery in the final, the Marcelino team will be extra motivated.
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We therefore believe in a game on the knife edge, but in the end Barça may score one more goal or not score many goals. So we guess: Barcelona win and less than 3.5 goals.
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