Valencia to miss their backbone against Barcelona

Valencia manager Marcelino Garcia announced on Wednesday that his team will miss Gonçalo Guedes, Geoffrey Kondogbia and Ezequiel Garay on their trip to Barcelona to meet the giants, FC Barcelona, in the first leg of the Spanish Cup semi-finals on Thursday night.

“We are going with important absentees, but our motivation will be as high as it can be, as we are going into a tie with the aim of getting to a final. We are going to Barcelona with the resolve to take a good result for the second leg in Mestalla,” Marcelino said on the club’s official website.

The three players have had a great season with the club and they established themselves in the starting squad of the club.

However, defender Gabriel Paulista has recovered and will be able to support his team at Nou Camp.

Marcelino trusts his team’s abilities to eliminate Barcelona, saying, “We are going into the game with motivation. We’re convinced that we can cause Barca problems, as we did at Mestalla in La Liga, where we were very close to beating them. The team will not stop battling and that is what they are going to do at Camp Nou.”

Valencia’s last clash against Barcelona at Nou Camp in the Spanish Cup was a disaster for Valencia, which lost 7-0 in 2016.