Yeray Álvarez (Barakaldo, 1995) has only played twice against Barcelona in San Mamés. A victory (this year's in the League, with the Chilean Aduriz) and a draw draw their statistics in two duels in which Athletic did not grant a goal to his rival. With the intention of continuing the streak, the center will be a key piece in the hard work of defense that the Gaizka Garitano team expects on Thursday. It remains to be seen if Athletic plays with four or five behind, but it seems clear that one of them will be Yeray.

It is often said that the Cup is special for Athletic. What does that mean? It means, above all, that it is our clearest option to be close to a degree, that it is the dream of any child of Bilbao and Athletic and more for someone like me, who has lived this story since childhood, This way of watching football. A title is the dream of any Athletic fan, also mine, and the Cup is the competition in which we have more options to achieve it. They come from overcoming two consecutive penalty batches. Is that luck? That of luck ... If you don't try, you don't get it. Against Elche we were almost the whole game with one player less and that is not easy, even if it is a rival of Second or even if it was Third, Garitano said after the Elche match that had been shown to be a very chaste team. Of course. In all the games we play we see our claw and our strength. Against Barça too. It seems that, sooner or later, Barça always sneaks into its path to thwart that dream. There are seven crosses in 12 years and he has always lost Athletic, including three finals. Barça is one of the best teams in the world, if not the best. And if Barça did not appear, Madrid would appear, which is equally good. In the end you have to face these teams and beat them if you want to win the Cup. I prefer to think that, by touching us now, we would have a 'coconut' less in the semifinals if we achieved the victory. Is it a relief, as central, the loss of Luis Suárez Well ... In the end, anyone who comes out is going to be a challenge for us. It is true that Luis Suarez is not there, but Griezmann will play there or Messi will. It is not a small thing ... What changes have you perceived in Barcelona since the arrival of Setién on the bench? They are playing the ball more, they give many more passes. They play more in their own field and with the vocation of moving the ball from side to side with a lot of speed. We will have to counteract their virtues and try to get ahead on the scoreboard, hold on to our people and become strong in our area. In any case, we have to worry more about how we are going to play and we know how we want to do it. Does it benefit them for their style that they are now more positional and less counterattacks? Maybe yes, but when they move you from side to side with the ball more spaces tend to open up in your defense. They force you to be closer together, more focused. We are aware that if we catch them in some backlash we can harm them, either with Williams or with who plays up. We have fast players to hurt them on the back of their defense and that must be our strength, our main weapon. Did you understand the removal of Ernesto Valverde? Ernesto was the one who made me debut in Athletic, I have to thank him for everything. It is a shame, because he is a fantastic coach who knows how to handle any situation he has to face very well. But well, if Barça has decided to make the decision to replace it, it was because they understood that it was the best for the team. Do not give more laps and also is not something I should get into.

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