Football throws up so many twists, turns and scenarios. Thanks to COVID-19, Spanish football will dish up something truly unique in April.
Two Copa del Rey finals will take place in the space of a fortnight after the 2020 decider was postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Athletic Bilbao front and centre.
Athletic will face rivals Real Sociedad in the mouthwatering rescheduled final on April 3 before going head-to-head with Lionel Messi's Barcelona in the 2021 showpiece on April 17.
Unfortunately, fans are barred from attending 'Derbi Vasco' in Seville, one of Spain's most famous rivalries as the Basque region is split between Athletic and La Real.
But it still represents a mammoth occasion in the inter-city rivalry, with Athletic – spearheaded by captain Iker Muniain, Inaki Williams and Raul Garcia – eyeing their first Copa del Rey title since 1983-84.
Benat was part of Athletic's run to the 2020 final, scoring in the first round and featuring in the last 16, before leaving San Mames for the A-League's newest team in Australia – Macarthur FC.
"Two finals are important, but Real Sociedad one is a derby and you always want to win whether it is a cup final or not," the 34-year-old, who spent seven years at Athletic before departing in 2020 but remains in contact with his former team-mates, told Stats Perform News.
"Derbies are special. But also, the Barcelona game will be nice and they will try to win."
Benat – a four-time Spain international having initially emerged from Athletic's youth team in 2005 – added: "The city of Bilbao comes along with the team in these days. The supporters are always there with Athletic. The truth is the entire city of Bilbao and the province of Bizkaia is full of red and white and they support a lot.
"The pity is they cannot attend to the game for the pandemic of COVID."
Benat's journey to Australia has seen him reunite with former Athletic team-mate Markel Susaeta in Sydney.
Susaeta spent the majority of his career at Athletic, where he made 507 appearances – only four players in the history of the club have managed more, Jose Angel Iribar (614), Jose Francisco Rojo (541), Joseba Etxeberria (514) and Andoni Iraola (510).
The 33-year-old Spanish winger wore the captain's armband and won the Supercopa de Espana in 2015 before departing his beloved Athletic in 2019, having first donned the iconic red and white stripes in 2007.
A three-time Copa del Rey finalist, Susaeta is no stranger to the Basque derby – he scored a brace in Athletic's 2-0 LaLiga win over La Real in 2012.
"It's clear that now is a big moment for Basque football," Susaeta, who will watch the final alongside Benat in the early hours of Saturday morning in Australia, said.
"Two finals is not normal, the situation is not normal. Athletic have a great opportunity to win a big title.
"In these matches, the emotion and intensity are very special. The wait is very long for the matches," Susaeta – part of the Athletic sides that were Copa del Rey runners-up in 2009, 2012 and 2015, said. "Athletic have been waiting for months. They are very excited. It's very difficult to control the emotions but it's a match all players want to play."
He added: "I think the derby of Bilbao and Basque country, it's a little bit more important that final. But there are two finals. I think the derby of Real Sociedad is more important.
"For Athletic, anyone can make the difference. Now they are playing well. In attack, they are creating more chances than before. They are in good condition for the finals."
Despite a change in the dugout, Athletic have already claimed silverware in 2020-21.
Marcelino replaced Gaizka Garitano in January, and he sensationally guided Athletic to a victory over Barca in the Supercopa de Espana final later that month.
Benat said: "Athletic were okay with Garitano, but they were not able to have a positive run to jump up in the table. And Marcelino has given extra confident to the players.
"The players trust him and you can see they gained confidence.
"I think Athletic have more experience lately. They have played some finals and they can have more experience, but I do think Athletic is a balanced team. They can play with or without ball and they can do great things with or without ball."
But one-time Spain international Susaeta, who reached the Europa League final with Los Leones under Marcelo Bielsa in 2012, is aware just how tough it is for Athletic to compete for trophies.
Athletic are a team who continue to play by their own rules. The Basque-only policy has captivated football and the sporting world, with Los Leones only picking players from one region since 1912.
Despite football's transformation by globalisation, Athletic remain defiant to their roots – only those born or raised in the Basque Country, which is made up of four provinces in north-east Spain and three in south-west France, eligible to represent the club. Rivals Real Sociedad operated a similar policy until 1989.
While it may come across as a disadvantage, limiting Athletic in the transfer market, the Spanish team have never been relegated from LaLiga while adhering to the famed policy. They have lost stars over the years, but the region continues to be a breeding ground for talent.
"It's very difficult to play in a final with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Valencia. Their salaries are very big and have the best players in the world," Susaeta added. "To play one final with Athletic and if you've grown up in the academy, it's one of the special things you can live as a football player. There's not many chances to win titles. It's very, very special."
Pre-season Manning Cup favorites JC and STATHS to square off in Walker Cup final
Jamaica College and St Andrew Technical (STATHS) will meet in the 2023 Walker Cup final after scoring 3-0 victories over Excelsior High and Wolmer’s Boys respectively in the semi-finals played at stadium east on Thursday.
Coming into the season, both teams who had met in the Manning Cup final in 2017, 2019 and 2022, would have been tipped to meet at that stage once again.
Jayd Johnson scored a double for Jamaica College who led 1-0 at half time as Excelsior High finished the game with 10 players after Renaldino Medwinter was sent off for striking a Jamaica College player.
Johnson gave Jamaica College the lead in the 27th minute, Jamoy Denis made the scores 2-0 in the 51st minute before Johnson completed his brace in the 58th minute.
Earlier in the first game, Nickoy Gayle scored for STATHS in the 10th minute, Richard Livingston doubled the lead in the 19th minute before Ajetai Marshall who was celebrating his 17th birthday and came off the bench in the second half, completed the scoring in the 77th minute.
The final will be a precursor to the Manning Cup final between Hydel High and Mona High at the National Stadium on December 8.
We’re our worst enemies: Pochettino wants Chelsea to focus on own performances
Mauricio Pochettino believes his players have been their own worst enemies this season after Chelsea’s recent good form was derailed by last weekend’s thrashing at Newcastle.
The 4-1 loss on Tyneside came after the team had given arguably their two most promising performances of the season, first winning by the same score away at previously unbeaten Tottenham, then in drawing a frenetic match 4-4 against Premier League and European champions Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
Yet at St. James’s Park they were routed by Eddie Howe’s side, with Pochettino admitting to feeling angry and disappointed at the manner in which his players capitulated in the second half against a Newcastle team ravaged by injuries.
Inconsistency has been a thorn in the manager’s side since he took over in July, with only four wins in 13 league matches.
Home form has been a particular concern, with one victory so far and defeats against Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Brentford, though performances in earning creditable draws against Arsenal, Liverpool and City had offered cause for hope.
However, the heavy defeat to Newcastle, which was compounded by a red card for captain Reece James, has brought questions about the rate of progress under the Argentinian back to the fore ahead of welcoming Brighton to west London on Sunday.
“It was a tough week for everyone,” said Pochettino. “I’m very happy because the players reacted really well. We blame ourselves because our approach (at Newcastle) maybe was wrong.
“But the week was good to realise what we need to improve. We need to be more consistent and mature. I’m very, very happy so far. It was tough in training and in meetings, but sometimes this type of situation helps you to improve a lot.
“The important thing is not to look at the end of the season, but to see the process and to improve every day. That’s the most difficult thing always in this type of process, to be focused on today and not on tomorrow.
“We beat Tottenham, had an amazing game against Manchester City, then we lose against Newcastle. We are our worst enemies and we need to be focused on us.
“If we are in a good place (against Brighton), I think for sure we will compete in a very good way. Brighton are not going to be the problem. We need to pay attention (to the opposition), but in this process I think we need to pay more attention to ourselves than to the opponent.”
Summer signings Christopher Nkunku and Romeo Lavia will be assessed on Saturday ahead of the Brighton game, with Pochettino confirming “they are close” to being fit enough to make long-awaited debuts.
Nkunku, a £52million capture from RB Leipzig, suffered a knee injury during a pre-season game against Borussia Dortmund, disrupting a promising start to his Chelsea career on the club’s United States tour, whilst Lavia has been out with an ankle problem and has not played since joining from Southampton.
Pochettino added that he had not held back in showing his anger to the players following the surrender to Newcastle.
“The players know very well how my mood was,” he said. “I’m not going to act. I’m not going to show a face that I don’t feel.
“I think it’s important the players feel the coaches in a natural way when we are angry, when we’re happy we’re happy. We were tough in our analysis, but tough is about telling the truth.”
Stephen Kingsley urges Hearts to start taking games ‘by scruff of the neck’
Stephen Kingsley hopes improving Hearts can become more emphatic winners as they bid to assert themselves in the race for Europe.
The Jambos have climbed to fourth in the cinch Premiership after three successive league victories by a one-goal margin.
Hearts have comfortably the best defensive record in the league outside the Old Firm, with six clean sheets and only 12 goals conceded in their 13 matches.
However, Steven Naismith’s side have scored only 13 times, with only three teams, Ross County plus the bottom two of St Johnstone and Livingston, netting less.
“One thing we’ve spoken about, even though we’ve had three good results recently, is that we need to score more goals,” said defender Kingsley.
“We’ve done well defensively and kept a lot of clean sheets this season, so the next thing is to go and really take it by the scruff of the neck and kill teams off as early as we can and make it more enjoyable for ourselves.”
Hearts last weekend made it three league wins in a row for the first time since January 2022.
If they beat Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Saturday – a result that would lift them up to third place – it will be the first time since the start of the 2018/19 season under Craig Levein that they have recorded four top-flight victories on the spin.
“It just shows that we’ve not really shown that level of consistency we need for a long time,” said Kingsley. “Two seasons ago we had a really good run of games where we went into games feeling like we were going to get a win or a positive result no matter how we played.
“We need to build ourselves back up to that. I don’t think any team has shown that level of consistency this season. That’s why the league is so tight and it’s why we’re sitting up in fourth after not having the best of results earlier in the season.
“I think whoever can show that bit of consistency will be the ones who do well come the end of the season.”
Despite being a defender, Kingsley netted 12 goals in his first two seasons at Hearts, including seven in the 2021/22 campaign.
Remarkably, however, the 29-year-old has not found the next in the past 19 months since his sensational free-kick in the Scottish Cup semi-final victory over Hibernian in April 2022.
“As long as we win I don’t care,” he said when asked about his goal drought. “I’d obviously love to get back on the score-sheet and help the boys out, but as long as I’m keeping clean sheets and the team’s winning, that’s the most important thing.
“I had a run of form a couple of seasons ago where I was getting loads of free-kicks and getting chances to score, but they’ve kind of dried up.
“I had a few free-kicks I was disappointed with earlier in the season, but my main job is to be a defender and we’ve been keeping clean sheets so I’m happy with that.
“I really couldn’t care who is scoring the goals as long as we’re winning games.”
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