Barcelona were unable to retain their La Liga title as they fell three points short of champions Real Madrid. However, they still have a very good chance to pick up silverware this season in the form of the Copa del Rey.
Despite coming in second to Real, Barca had a terrific end to the season. They won their last seven La Liga matches in a row, and scored at least four goals in four of their final five games. Lionel Messi scored two more goals in their 4-2 win over Eibar in the season finale. Messi finished with 37 league goals to claim yet another Pichichi, the award given to La Liga’s top scorer.
Messi’s other two strike partners, Neymar and Luis Suarez, will also be in fine form heading into the final. Neymar bagged a hat-trick in Barca’s penultimate league game against Las Palmas, while Suarez has scored in each of his last four games. The last time Barca faced Alaves back in February, that front three combined for four goals in a massive 6-0 Barca win, their biggest away victory of the season.
With all that firepower at their disposal, Barca will obviously be overwhelming favorites to claim yet another Copa del Rey. The Catalans are the two-time defending tournament champions, and also won last year’s title at the Calderon.
Alaves have been one of the stories of the season in Spain, and not just because they’ve reached their first Copa del Rey final in club history. They returned to the top flight of Spanish football for the first time since 2006, and they were never in real threat of going back down. Under the guidance of manager Mauricio Pellegrino, they finished a very respectable 9th in the table.
Alaves had a handful of outstanding results on their way to that mid-table finish. The most noteworthy of all was no doubt their stunning 2-1 win over Barcelona in September. That was Barca’s lone league defeat at the Camp Nou this season.
Despite the lack of recognizable names, Alaves have been able to punch well above their weight thanks to the emergence of some young up-and-comers (Theo Hernandez, Marcos Llorente), as well as breakout star Zou Feddal. Those three led a formidable defensive unit which conceded just 43 goals, the sixth-best defensive record in La Liga.
Alaves will most likely come out with the strategy of frustrating Barca as much as possible for as long as possible; they had just 25 percent of possession against Barca in their famous win at the Camp Nou, and limited the Catalans to just two shots on goal.
Writer’s Prediction
Barcelona will not go this season trophy-less. They thump Alaves 3-0 to win their third-straight Copa. For some better value, take Barca at -2, -2.5 on the Asian Handicap instead of the astronomical moneyline odds.
