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Barcelona's Javier Mascherano feels Valencia tie is still wide open
The Argentine midfielder has stated his belief that the Copa del Rey final-four encounter is far from decided, and stressed that the Catalans will fight until the end
Feb 7, 2012 8:03:00 AM
By Stefan Coerts
Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano has insisted that the Blaugrana will have to be at their best in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final against Valencia if they are to reach the final.
Pep Guardiola's men were held to a 1-1 draw in the away game against los Che, and Mascherano feels that the tie remains wide open despite having home-ground advantage in Wednesday's return clash.
"The semi-final is still wide open. And with the teams level on aggregate, people are a lot more cautious than they were before the second leg against Real Madrid, when everybody was sure we had already qualified," Mascherano was quoted as saying on the Barcelona website.
"We knew that Madrid would fight, would throw everything at us, and the same will happen with Valencia, who want to reach the final as much as we do.
"We are going to have to maintain the same attitude."
Wednesday's game at Camp Nou kicks off at 21.00CET.
Starting in November and continuing through to the middle of February, Goal.com is publishing exclusive extracts from Graham Hunter's highly-anticipated new book, 'Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World'. The last extract looked at how Barca suffered rare disappointment at the hands of Real Madrid in a gripping finale to last season's Copa del Rey. Don't miss it!
| Bet: | Returns: | Bilbao £85.00 | Draw £55.00 | Barcelona £12.50 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Bilbao £95.00 | Draw £55.00 | Barcelona £12.90 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Bilbao £90.00 | Draw £50.00 | Barcelona £13.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Bilbao £90.00 | Draw £60.00 | Barcelona £12.90 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Bilbao £87.00 | Draw £53.00 | Barcelona £12.50 |
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Pep Guardiola's men were held to a 1-1 draw in the away game against los Che, and Mascherano feels that the tie remains wide open despite having home-ground advantage in Wednesday's return clash.
"The semi-final is still wide open. And with the teams level on aggregate, people are a lot more cautious than they were before the second leg against Real Madrid, when everybody was sure we had already qualified," Mascherano was quoted as saying on the Barcelona website.
"We knew that Madrid would fight, would throw everything at us, and the same will happen with Valencia, who want to reach the final as much as we do.
"We are going to have to maintain the same attitude."
Wednesday's game at Camp Nou kicks off at 21.00CET.
Starting in November and continuing through to the middle of February, Goal.com is publishing exclusive extracts from Graham Hunter's highly-anticipated new book, 'Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World'. The last extract looked at how Barca suffered rare disappointment at the hands of Real Madrid in a gripping finale to last season's Copa del Rey. Don't miss it!
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Athletic Bilbao - FC Barcelona
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