Lewandowski Benched as Barcelona Faces Unionistas in Copa del Rey Clash

Polish striker Robert Lewandowski won’t start in Thursday’s match against Unionistas de Salamanca in the Copa del Rey Round of 16. Vítor Roque will make his second appearance as a starter for FC Barcelona.

Barcelona’s coach, Xavi Hernández, faces several absences for this clash against the third-division team: Gavi, with a cruciate ligament tear, Cancelo, suffering from a knee injury, Marcos Alonso, and Ter Stegen, both with back injuries, and Iñigo Martínez and Raphinha, with muscle injuries. Ahead of the match, Xavi acknowledged the criticism his team received after the 4-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the Supercopa de España final.

“It’s normal; we’re Barcelona, and it’s about winning. On the day against Madrid in the league, we played very well, but it’s about winning. If you refer to Luis Aragonés’s video, it’s about winning, winning, and winning again. If you don’t win and don’t achieve titles, there will be consequences, but since we’ve won and secured titles, I’m still here. I don’t know what reality you see, but this is mine,” the coach commented in a press conference.

Sleepless nights, endless contemplation on how to defeat FC Barcelona, and brief moments to unwind between interviews – this has been the past week in the life of Dani Ponz (Valencia, 1973), coach of Unionistas de Salamanca, delighted by this upheaval that he would love to make a regular occurrence. The Valencian coach arrived at the club less than a year ago and swiftly transformed a team that was near relegation in the Primera Federación into one vying for promotion playoff spots to the Spanish Segunda División.

“Barcelona and Madrid are the most globally recognized teams. We understand that getting to know them is quite straightforward. We’ve conducted a thorough analysis of all the squad members, including Vítor Roque, for whom we had to search for images everywhere. While they are the easiest to know, at the same time, obviously, they are the most challenging to neutralize and combat,” stated the Salamanca team’s coach.

Unionistas de Salamanca vs. Barcelona: Lineups for the Copa del Rey match Unionistas: Iván Martínez; Ekaitx, Ramiro Mayor, Erik Ruiz, Carlos Giménez; Jordi Tur, Adri Gómez, Serrano, Álvaro Gómez; Rastrojo, and Mario Losada.

FC Barcelona: Iñaki Peña, Sergi Roberto, Koundé, Christensen, Balde, Oriol Romeu, Fermín, De Jong, Ferrán Torres, Marc Guiu, Joao Félix.