Barcelona meets Athletic Bilbao in the 1/8 finals of the Spanish Copa Del Rey. Xavi's team is coming from a Super Cup semi-final clash vs. Real Madrid, with the first ninety minutes ending without a winner, only for Madrid to score in the extra-time for 3-2. Still, Barca was great in that duel, considering how much their squad has changed from last season. Bilbao's last match was the Super Cup final against Real, after Marcelino's men defeated Atletico Madrid 2-1 in the semis. Unfortunately for the Basque, Madrid comfortably beat them 2-0 to raise its twelfth Spanish Super Cup trophy. The whole tournament was played in the country of Saudi Arabia, and this will be both sides' first game in Spain after a short journey abroad.

Bilbao will enjoy the advantage of the home fans, but it shouldn't make much of a difference considering how poor the hosts have been at the San Mames Stadium recently. Athletic Club failed to win in four of its previous five home games, only managing to get the three points vs. Real Betis after a tough 3-2 meeting. Inaki Williams was a hero of that match as he scored a brace, but he has failed to find the net in his next five appearances. Athletic is currently ninth-placed in La Liga, being the league's second-best defensive side, conceding just seventeen goals so far. However, "Los Leones" are terrible offensively, and are also the team with most ties in the Spanish top-flight this season, sharing points in ten of the twenty-one matches, almost half.

Barca is improving more and more every week under the leadership of the club legend Xavi, and their game against Real Madrid was probably the club's best performance this season so far. The guests are out of the Champions League, and the league trophy is looking impossible for anyone except Real and Sevilla, so winning the Cup will be their only hope of silverware this year.

I expect the guests to win here, considering everything stated above. Good luck!

巴塞罗那在西班牙国王杯的 1/8 决赛中与毕尔巴鄂竞技队相遇。哈维的球队刚刚在超级杯半决赛与皇家马德里的交锋，前九十分钟没有获胜，皇马马德里在加时赛中以 3-2 取胜。尽管如此，考虑到他们的阵容与上赛季相比发生了多大变化，巴萨在那场对决中表现出色。毕尔巴鄂的最后一场比赛是超级杯决赛对阵皇马，马塞利诺的球队在半决赛中以 2-1 击败马德里竞技。对巴斯克人来说不幸的是，决赛中皇马马德里以 2-0 轻松击败他们，夺得了第十二座西班牙超级杯奖杯。整场比赛在沙特阿拉伯进行，这将是双方短暂出国后在西班牙的首场比赛。

毕尔巴鄂将有主场球迷的优势，但考虑到主队最近在圣马梅斯体育场的糟糕表现，这应该不会有太大的不同。毕尔巴鄂竞技在过去的五场主场比赛中有四场未能取胜，仅在对阵皇家贝蒂斯的比赛中得到了 3 分。 Inaki Williams 是那场比赛的英雄，他梅开二度，但他在接下来的五场比赛中都未能进球。毕尔巴鄂竞技目前在西甲联赛中排名第九，是防守第二好的球队，迄今为止只丢了 17 个球。不过他们的进攻很糟糕，二十一场比赛中有十场比赛打平，几乎一半。

巴萨在俱乐部传奇人物哈维的带领下每周都在进步，他们与皇马的比赛可能是俱乐部本赛季迄今为止的最佳表现。客队无缘欧冠联赛，联赛奖杯看起来除了皇马和塞维利亚之外的任何球队都是不可能的，因此赢得杯赛将是他们今年获得奖杯的唯一希望。 考虑到上述所有内容，我预测客队获胜。祝好运