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Barcelona's Javier Mascherano feels Valencia tie is still wide open
The Argentine midfielder has stated his belief that the Copa del Rey final-four encounter is far from decided, and stressed that the Catalans will fight until the end
Feb 7, 2012 3:18:00 AM
By Stefan Coerts
Javier Mascherano - Barcelona
Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano has insisted that the Blaugrana will have to be at its best in the second leg of its Copa del Rey semifinal against Valencia in order to reach the final.
Pep Guardiola's men were held to a 1-1 draw in the away game against los Che, and Mascherano feels that the tie remains wide open despite having home-ground advantage in Wednesday's return clash.
"The semifinal is still wide open," Mascherano was quoted as saying on the Barcelona website.
"And with the teams level on aggregate, people are a lot more cautious than they were before the second leg against Real Madrid, when everybody was sure we had already qualified,"
"We knew that Madrid would fight, would throw everything at us, and the same will happen with Valencia, who want to reach the final as much as we do. We are going to have to maintain the same attitude."
Wednesday's game at Camp Nou kicks off at 3:00 p.m. ET.
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Pep Guardiola's men were held to a 1-1 draw in the away game against los Che, and Mascherano feels that the tie remains wide open despite having home-ground advantage in Wednesday's return clash.
"The semifinal is still wide open," Mascherano was quoted as saying on the Barcelona website.
"And with the teams level on aggregate, people are a lot more cautious than they were before the second leg against Real Madrid, when everybody was sure we had already qualified,"
"We knew that Madrid would fight, would throw everything at us, and the same will happen with Valencia, who want to reach the final as much as we do. We are going to have to maintain the same attitude."
Wednesday's game at Camp Nou kicks off at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Follow Goal.com on
to get the latest soccer news directly. Check out Goal.com's page; be part of the best soccer fan community in the world!
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