Cup specialists Athletic Club aiming for Madrid scalp

With Spain not having a national stadium, the cup final venue is chosen once the two finalists have been decided.

Madrid would have been the natural venue, being roughly equidistant between the two cities (though still 600 kilometres away) and having the infrastructure to soak up 80,000 football fans – that’s the capacity at the Bernabeu, while the Calderon is 55,000. Zaragoza, which is bang in the middle of Barcelona and Bilbao, doesn’t.

The Madrid clubs rejected the use of their stadium for different reasons. The Calderon is being used for an AC/DC concert, as is Barcelona’s Montjuic.

Had Espanyol triumphed in Wednesday’s semi final second leg, that would have presented an interesting logistical problem, for which Espanyol would have likely seen the € signs and agreed to play the game in the 98,000 capacity Camp Nou.

Barça want the game to be played in Valencia’s Mestalla, Atheltic at Sevilla’s Cartuja – an underused venue seating 65,000.

It will be worth €15 million to the regional economy of either, and every local economy in Spain needs a boost at a time when half their bright young people are working as hotel maids and bar staff in Britain or Germany, but a venue is yet to be agreed for the May 30 final.

This is yet another Barça v Athletic cup final. That the Catalans consistently reach cup finals doesn’t surprise, that the Basques do does. It will be the eighth such encounter between the clubs, the third in six years following the 2009 and 2012 final, Pep Guardiola’s last Spanish trophy. They also played in the 1984 final at a time when the Basques had more cup wins than any other club. Barça now hold that record and the barge which sails down the River Nervion when Athletic win a trophy hasn’t budged for 31 years.

So why do a team who’ve finished an average of 10th position in the last decade keep reaching the final. Why did Ernesto Valverde describe the feat as “a dream” after Wednesday’s second leg when the victorious players celebrated in front of 2,000 travelling fans?

It’s in part because Athletic can only use Basque players, so they are better suited to cup than the league. There’s a greater element of luck in one off ties than over a 38 game season. Unless they change their Basque-only policy, Athletic are highly unlikely to win the league again but they will probably win a cup if Barcelona stop beating them. The cup matters in Bilbao too, they’re proud of their record, even if they’ve been overtaken by Barça.

That Athletic only drew the first leg of the semi-final at home was no surprise. Their superb new San Mames stadium has not proved to be the fortress they had hoped.

Valverde's side have won just four of their 12 home league games and lost five. They've picked up as many points on the road as at home. Levante in 18th, have won as many points at home as Athletic. Even their only cup defeat in the eight games on the way to the final came at home. Fortunately they’d already beaten Celta Vigo 4-2 away in the first leg.

It shouldn't be like that. As well as being a glorious venue, the old San Mames could be intimidating for visiting teams. The new one is luxurious by comparison, but it has either softened up the home team or made them nervous and incapable of fulfilling the increased expectations.

The cup run has helped raise spirits and players were met by hundreds of fans at training the day after their 2-0 win at Espanyol. The 1-0 weekend derby win against an Eibar side in free-fall also pushed them above Real Sociedad and Eibar to be the highest placed Basque side.

That’s hardly worth celebrating given Athletic are by a distance the biggest Basque club, with average home crowds of 40, 503 to Real Sociedad’s 22,844 and Eibar’s 4,628 – the smallest in the top flight in memory, but after losing Ander Herrera last summer, the Basques had a very poor start to the season and were in the relegation zone after seven matches. Along with Barca and Real Madrid, they're the only team in Spain never to have been relegated from the top division. Following a dreadful December and January, Athletic have gradually improved since, though they were eliminated from the Europa League at home to Torino last week in front of 50,000.

This season has been a disappointment after last term’s fourth place finish and the Champions League football which followed. With a cup final to look forward to, the year could end on a high.

Oh, and they also have the small matter of a visit from Real Madrid visit on Saturday, a game which usually sees the team from Spain’s capital hammered. In the words of Herrera when asked about Madrid, he replied diplomatically.

Real Madrid? They’re the least loved team here. There’s very, very little love for them here. Barça? There’s more respect. It’s also a political question, the Basque country and Catalonia. Atletico are somewhere in between.”

Real Madrid will visit the San Mames tonight and a first 50,000+ crowd is anticipated in the 53,000 seater venue. In form Athletic, who have only been beaten by Barcelona in their last ten games, hope to begin making their new home the fortress their old stadium was.