Guardiola relishing Copa showpiece

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola predicted a “beautiful” Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao after his team advanced on Wednesday night at the expense of Valencia.

There was all to play for with the tie finely balanced at 1-1 heading into Wednesday’s second leg at the Nou Camp, but the hosts needed only 16 minutes to take the lead through Cesc Fabregas.

Sofiane Feghouli was sent off for the visitors in the 76th minute for a second bookable offence and soon after Xavi eased any Barca nerves by grabbing his side’s second goal to secure a 3-1 aggregate win.

The triumph set up a final against Athletic and Guardiola believes the May date will prove a “marvellous spectacle”.

“We’re very excited to play against Athletic. We’re happy to have another final saved away. It’s a final with the teams that have the most titles in the competition,” he said.

“It will be fascinating, because I haven’t seen a team that plays into space like Athletic. They will come for us, and we’ll do the same.

“It’ll be a beautiful final for fans that will give prestige to the Cup.”

Guardiola was pleased with how his side went about their task against a dangerous Valencia team. “In Valencia we played an extraordinary game, and (last night) we did it again. We generated a lot of football, with an almost infinite amount of plays,” the 41-year-old said.

“It’s a great achievement. It says a lot about the players.”