The beauty of the Copa del Rey is that you get to see how much the competition means to even the smallest clubs that you’ve never heard of before.
Barcelona are the reigning champions, but they weren’t far away from an upset in Guadalajara.
Hansi Flick started the game with some surprises. Marc-André ter Stegen was in goal. Lamine Yamal, to the disappointment of many, was on the field instead of resting. Marc Bernal and Marc Casadó got rare starts.
Guadalajara parked the bus, and as the game went on, looked like they had it in them to score a goal on the counter attack.
Barcelona, for their part, had no solutions.
Lamine Yamal and Marcus Rashford were locked down, and there was simply no getting through the wall that the small but mighty Guadalajara had set up.
Enter Pedri, and like clock work, the Blaugrana’s luck changed. Within a minute, Andreas Christensen scored the game winner from a ball over the top.
It was a frustrating night for Barcelona, but they march on. For the first time since August 16th, they recorded a clean sheet in an away match. Not a bad return for Ter Stegen.
Winning in the end is all that matters. The Copa del Rey is known for being tricky, and big teams have tripped up in the past. The little clubs put their hearts and souls into the moment, because in many ways this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for them.
Hansi Flick experimented, and it didn’t work out. No harm no foul.
Barcelona are closing in on a very strong close to the year. They are in the driver’s seat across all competitions. They visit the Yellow Submarine on Sunday. Villarreal at the moment is a La Liga title contender. Barcelona can end 2025 with a statement win, and have the winds at their back heading into 2026.
Sometimes, those crucial wins won’t be pretty, but you have to get the job done nonetheless.
Good on Guadalajara for fighting hard and creating a memory to last a lifetime.
Good on Barcelona for their consistency of late in the win column.
For the Blaugrana the result is all the matters, no matter how you get it. They’ll have to remember that in the near future, because crunch time has arrived, and trophies are up for grabs.
