The Copa del Rey 2012 begins on Thursday 16th February at the Palau Sant Jordi with FC Barcelona Regal starting their defence against Lucentum Alacant in the quarter-finals. Xavi Pascual’s Barca are one of four seeded teams in the draw and, should they win their opening game, will face the winner of the match between Caja Laboral and Lagun Aro.
They will be mindful of their quarter-final opponents, as Lucentum Alacant will be no pushover. They finished fifth in the first half of the season, having recorded the same number of victories as the third and fourth placed teams, Unicaja and Caja Laboral. Their star player is Kaloyan Ivanov who is rated one of the best players in ACB. He missed the most recent meeting between the sides at the Palau, which the home side won by 65-49.
Barca are fully aware that no team has ever won three Cups in a row but claim they are not feeling any extra pressure. They are delighted to be playing the tournament in Barcelona and feel that the home support will give them a great chance of completing the hat-trick. At a recent open media day at the Palau Blaugrana, team captain Juan Carlos Navarro said that he was “very pleased and very eager to start the competition. We’re ready.” He added, “It’s as if we’re playing a home game. We’re going to try and win the Cup. It’s a challenge we want to achieve.” If Barça Regal manages to win the tie, it would their 23rd victory in the event and put them one ahead of rivals Real Madrid. “I try not to focus too much on the numbers, but the journalists always remind me of them,” Navarro joked. He believes that their toughest game could be the opening fixture. “The first game is always the most important one for me, and the most dangerous. You have to be very alert because they have nothing to lose.”
The Captain’s comments were echoed by colleague, Victor Sada who added that “We are very eager to play for the Cup, we’ve been waiting for this moment for weeks.”
The other quarter-final games are between Real Madrid and Fuenlabrada and Unicaja versus Banca Cívica Sevilla with the winners meeting in the second semi-final.
There is still time for you to reserve your seat at the Copa del Rey 2012. Ticket2final, in partnership with ACB, are offering you tickets that grant access to all 7 games (Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and Final). It promises to be a thrilling competition!