FC Barcelona have a Spanish Super Cup final to play tonight in Saudi Arabia, in which they will face their traditional rivals, Real Madrid. Irrespective of the outcome, the Catalans will return to Spain after this match.
After returning to the Iberian Peninsula, the first match that Barcelona will play will be against Unionistas de Salamanca CF in the Copa del Rey Round of 16. This game is scheduled for the coming Thursday.
While Xavi’s men are clearly the favorites for this match, their opposition is not going to make it easy for the Blaugranes to advance to the next round. This has been made clear by the President of the Unionistas, Roberto Pescador, who, as reported by SPORT, commented on the upcoming match in a recent interview:
“I said it on the first day when we got drawn against them, to those who were there at the draw, that Barcelona will suffer at the Reina Sofia because everyone suffers at the Reina Sofia.”
“Obviously, Barcelona is the favorite because it’s Barcelona, and saying otherwise would be ridiculous, but why not? Worse things have happened, and things are similar at the Reina. It’s not the first time we face a great rival, we had Real Madrid four years ago.”
However, Pescador went on to explain that things have changed now and his side will be more prepared for this match than they were against Real Madrid four years ago:
“This time we are much more prepared, the club is much more mature, and I believe that for us, it is an opportunity to show the Spanish football world what can be done with a management model like ours.”
“Since the draw paired both teams, the top executive of Unionistas has not had a day off: A lot of work, overloaded with things, requests, solicitations, and also organizing many things with many entities.”
The President went on to mention both the strengths and some weaknesses of his club ahead of this tie:
“Our stadium is a charming, small field… but it is true that it really lacks many things, has some deficiencies and things that maybe at first were not necessary, and now they are.”
“[Still, I want to] show that it is a club that has no debts, that has a category where most clubs have debts, with budgets much higher than ours, but really always incurring losses and where fans do not have control over what happens with their club.”
Lastly, he explained how the match against Barcelona can impact his club in general:
“…to us, fortunately, or through management, it doesn’t save our season. It simply helps us, it can help us a lot in trying to take one more step on this path. Therefore, in the end, it is also a situation where we don’t see it so much as an opportunity to make money, but rather an opportunity to showcase Unionistas to the world.”
