Copa del Rey: How to watch Athletic Club vs Barcelona live on February 06, 2020

February 5, 2020 By Ali M.

Topics: TV Schedules, Barcelona, Athletic Club, Copa del Rey

The Lions and the Blaugrana, the competition's two most successful sides, will lock horns in the quarter-finals on Thursday. Check out our match preview for more info.

What is the form of Athletic Club compared to Barcelona?

Athletic Club will head into this tie on the back of their recent 2-0 loss to Getafe over the weekend. In 2020, the Basque club have failed to win seven of their games, drawing three and losing one. In their last 15 games, though, the home side have lost only twice, winning eight and drawing five.

As for Barcelona, they have bounced back from that 2-0 loss at Valencia that saw them lose their lead in La Liga, beating Leganes 5-0 to book this Copa del Rey tie before overcoming Levante 2-1. They now have four wins out of seven in 2020 (D1, L2) and have failed to win five of their last 15 games (D3, L2), which is eye-catching for a club of the Blaugrana’s stature.

Athletic Club vs Barcelona head-to-head record

These two teams, the two most successful in Copa del Rey history, have locked horns in this competition a whopping 41 times. Never before have they met in a one-off tie like this, excluding finals.

Athletic Club and Barcelona have faced off in the final eight times, with the Blaugrana winning six – including their most recent encounter – while losing two. Outside of the finals, they have crossed paths 16 times in two-legged match-ups, with the Catalan giants progressing 11 times and failing to do so on five occasions.

Games played: 206

Athletic Club wins: 69

Barcelona wins: 103

Draws: 34

Preview

To say Barcelona are in the midst of a crisis would be an understatement. The Catalan giants have not only lost Ousmane Dembele for the remainder of the season after suffering a relapse in his road to recovery, but there is now tension between Messi, one of only three fit senior attackers at the club, and sporting director Eric Abidal.

However, in the footballing aspects, it is business as usual for the Argentine, who reported to training and has been included in the squad for Thursday’s game after his Instagram outburst. Despite this, Quique squad remains thin.

There have been claims that Pique is not 100 percent for Thursday’s game while there had been suggestions that Umtiti would miss the trip due to a court date. Both have been included in the squad. Vidal has also recovered and will make the trip.