Athletic Bilbao - Barcelona Preview: Catalans seek Copa del Rey success in Guardiola's final match
The Blaugrana are out to salvage a disappointing end to their season by lifting the Copa del Rey, while the Basques look to rebound from their bitter defeat in the Europa League
| PROBABLE LINEUPS |
ATHLETIC BILBAO
 IraizozIraola, Martinez, Amorebieta, Aurtenetxe De Marcos, Iturraspe, HerreraSusaeta, Llorente, Muniain |
BARCELONA
 PintoMontoya, Pique, Mascherano, Adriano Xavi, Busquets, IniestaFabregas, Messi, Alexis |
Athletic Bilbao have no injury concerns heading into Friday's cup final with Barcelona at the Vicente Calderon.
Midfielder Ander Iturraspe is expected to start despite missing training earlier in the week with a virus.
Barca boss Pep Guardiola will have to make a number of changes in defence with Dani Alves, Carles Puyol, Eric Abidal and Andreu Fontas all out, while striker David Villa will not recover from his broken leg in time.
Young defender Martin Montoya should fill in for Dani Alves at right-back, with Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano taking the centre-back slots.
| DID YOU KNOW? |
- Athletic Bilbao are on a five-game winless streak in all competitions and have failed to register on the scoresheet in all of those matches.
The Basque side are the second-most successful club in Copa del Rey history with 23 triumphs, but have not tasted cup success since 1984.
- The San Mames outfit have contested six previous Copa finals against Barcelona, with the Catalans notching four wins to Athletic's two.
- Los Ledones, who finished 10th in La Liga, have already secured at least a qualifying-round spot in the Europa League. If they win the Copa, they will go straight into the group stage.
- Barcelona are on a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions (W3, D2).
- The Blaugrana are the most successful side in Copa del Rey history with 25 wins.
- The Catalans beat their final opponents 2-0 at home in the league in April and drew 2-2 at San Mames last November.
- A Barca victory will hand Pep Guardiola a 14th title from his four-year spell in charge of the club.