Valverde-Aguirre, two legends with extensive experience in finals

Photo Credit To Agencia EFE

The final of the Copa del Rey between Athletic Club and Real Club Deportivo Mallorca will bring about a duel between two legends on the bench such as Ernesto Valverde and Javier Aguirre, both with a background of more than 800 matches in the elite and extensive experience in big tournament finals.

For Valverde (Viandar de la Vera/Cáceres, 1964) it will be his sixth cup final, the second with Athletic after the one he lost in 2015 against FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou (1-3).

Furthermore, during his time in Greece the ‘Txingurri’ won the Greek Cup twice with Olympiacos (2009 and 2012) and as coach of FC Barcelona he lifted the trophy in 2018 after beating Sevilla (5-0) and could not do it in the 2019 edition after losing to Valencia (2-1).

In other short competitions, Valverde led Espanyol to the 2007 UEFA Cup final, of which they were runners-up after losing in the penalty shootout against Sevilla, and with Athletic he won a two-legged Super Cup of enormous merit in 2015. in which they beat Barça in San Mamés (4-0) and tied at the Camp Nou (1-1), avoiding the ‘sextet’ of the Barça team led by Luis Enrique.

With Barcelona, ​​they lost this same tournament against Real Madrid, in the 2017-18 edition in a round-trip, and won the following season, 2018-2019, in a game against Sevilla.

The great event at La Cartuja will not be a new experience for Aguirre (Mexico City, 1958) either. Not even in Spain since ‘El Vasco’ already made history in Pamplona by taking Osasuna to the first Cup final in its history in 2005.

A match in which these two strategists were on the verge of crossing paths for the first time since Athletic, also then led by Valverde, fell in the semifinals after an agonizing penalty shootout against Betis, the executioner of the Navarrese in the decisive match played. at the Vicente Calderón.

Previously, Aguirre had debuted his record in Mexico at the head of Pachuca, directing the Tuzos to the title of the 1999 Winter Tournament by beating Cruz Azul in the two-legged final. He repeated in the final match in the 2001 Summer Tournament, but on this occasion he gave in to Santos.

Also in his country, the current Mallorca coach won two important international trophies.

With the national team he won the 2009 Concacaf Gold Cup, with a historic victory by ‘Tri’ against the United States (5-0), and in 2021, just a few months before arriving on the island, he won the Concacaf Champions League with the Rayados de Monterrey defeating América 1-0.

Aguirre also left his mark during his time in the United Arab Emirates. On the bench of Al Wahda in Abu Dhabi he lifted the 2016 League Cup and the 2017 President Cup.

If Athletic wins, it would be the eleventh title for Valverde (5 leagues -3 with Olympiacos and 2 with Barcelona-, 3 Cups -2 with Olympiacos and one with Barça- and 2 Super Cups, one with Athletic and one with Barcelona).

Aguirre, for his part, would record his sixth trophy after the 1999 Winter Championship (Pachuca), the 2009 Gold Cup (Mexico), the 2021 Concachampions (Monterrey) and the two cups in Arab lands.