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FC Barcelona eye domestic Cup win to help heal UEFA Champions League wounds

Healing
Barcelona (Spain), April 19, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Spanish giants FC Barcelona will target a record-extending 30th King’s Cup triumph when they face Sevilla in Saturday’s final.

A victory would also virtually assure them of a second domestic double in three seasons, reinforcing their dominance in Spain.

Also, victory for Barca in the first final at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid has something else to look forward to.

It will also go some way towards healing the wounds from their catastrophic failure in the 2017/2018 UEFA Champions League.

The team’s rampant run towards a 25th Liga title, while staying unbeaten, has been overshadowed by their devastating 3-0 defeat to AS Roma in the continental competition.

The defeat saw them exit Europe’s top competition on away goals rule after blowing a 4-1 lead from the first leg.

It has also harmed coach Ernesto Valverde’s reputation in an otherwise impeccable first season in charge.

Valverde was even criticised in some sections of the Catalan press in the aftermath of their European exit for taking the King’s Cup too seriously.

Some blamed his team’s embarrassment in Rome on his reluctance to rotate his squad.

Barca’s third successive European failure will be all the harder to swallow should Real Madrid go on to win the UEFA Champions League for a third season in a row.

This does not take away the Catalans’ domestic achievements, which are impressive in their own right.

If Barca beat Sevilla, they will become the first team since the Spanish Civil War started to win the Cup four years in a row.

This will thereby almost certainly seal the club’s eighth domestic double.

Standing in their way are a hugely unpredictable Sevilla side who have endured a series of humiliating defeats in the league under coach Vincenzo Montella.

However, they tend to come into their own on the biggest of occasions.

Sevilla knocked Manchester United out of the UEFA Champions League and dumped Atletico Madrid out of the King’s Cup.

They also came within a minute of beating Barca in the league before the Catalans fought back from two goals down.

“We don’t have any fear.

“We’ll try and use our weapons as best as we can and ensure that they don’t feel comfortable at all in any stage of the game,” Sevilla midfielder Pablo Sarabia told reporters ahead of the final.

“We have to be as aggressive as we can. It’s a beautiful chance for us to win a trophy. We have to remind ourselves of the good things we’ve done this season.

“We have not been consistent in the league but in the UEFA Champions League we made history and in the Cup we have a chance to lift a trophy.”

There is an outside chance FC Barcelona could be crowned Liga champions the day after the final.

This is if second-placed Atletico Madrid lose to Real Sociedad on Thursday and are beaten at home by Real Betis on Sunday.

Third-placed Real Madrid were due to face Sevilla this weekend but the game has been postponed because of the King’s Cup final, while fourth-placed Valencia visit Celta Vigo on Saturday.(Reuters/NAN)
KIA/OLAL
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

 

Sport

UCL: Fortunate Bayern come from behind to beat Sevilla

Champions League

Seville (Spain), April 3, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Bayern Munich fought back with a deflected own goal and a late header from Thiago to claim a 2-1 win at Sevilla in an exciting Champions League quarter-final, first leg clash on Tuesday.

Pablo Sarabia had put Sevilla ahead in the 32nd minute when he got the better of Juan Bernat to control Sergio Escudero’s cross and fire home at the back post.

However, five minutes later Bayern levelled when Sevilla’s Jesus Navas deflected Franck Ribery’s cross past home goalkeeper David Soria at the near post.

With Sevilla tiring, five-time European champions Bayern took advantage and Thiago headed the winner with the help of a deflection off Escudero in the 68th minute.

Vincenzo Montella’s Sevilla were unlucky to go in level at the break, having had the better of the first half and demonstrating the spirit that saw them knock out Manchester United in the last 16.

Despite the absence of suspended playmaker Ever Banega, the Andalusians defied their underdog label and might have been awarded a penalty when Joaquin Correa was felled by Jerome Boateng.

The referee however booked him  for diving.

Sarabia should then have put the hosts ahead but fired just wide after the ball dropped perfectly for him in front of goal.

The Spanish attacking midfielder made amends with the opening goal before Navas’s own goal levelled the scores.

With Bayern’s usual left-back David Alaba injured, Bernat was given a torrid time by Sarabia who he was booked for fouling shortly after the opener before being withdrawn at halftime.

The hosts nearly scored just after the break but Javi Martinez made a superb tackle on Franco Vazquez in the area.

After that Sevilla ran out of steam and Soria had to make a fine save to deny Martinez before Thiago grabbed the winner.

Having let the lead slip, Sevilla never looked like pulling level and Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski fired narrowly wide as the visitors looked for a third.

The visitors were in control in what seemed like Sevilla’s undoing in the 2-2 draw with Barcelona in La Liga on Saturday.

Sevilla now need an unlikely triumph against the experienced Jupp Heynckes’ side in Munich in next Wednesday’s second leg to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time. (Reuters/NAN)

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