Villa: Past means nothing against Almeria

David Villa insists Barcelona’s 8-0 demolition of Almeria will count for little when the teams meet in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.

The Spanish champions blew Almeria away in their La Liga meeting at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos in November, exacting a humiliating home defeat that cost coach Juan Manuel Lillo his job.

Now under Jose Luis Oltra, the team are still struggling in the relegation zone despite their vital 3-2 league win over Osasuna on Sunday.

Despite having an easy time of it when the two sides last met, Villa said he believed Almeria would be a different proposition in the last four of the cup competition.

“We aren’t thinking about the previous match with Almeria, which was very much in our favour,” Villa said.

“They are a team with a different manager, and every game is different. We don’t think that because we beat them 8-0 that this time it will be the same. On the contrary, they have a lot of desire, just like me, and they have never got so far in this competition. We are both 180 minutes away from the final, so it will be a tough tie.”

Almeria beat Deportivo La Coruna home and away to reach the semi-finals, while Barca needed to rely on their 5-0 first-leg win over Real Betis to progress after losing 3-1 in the return fixture.

A meeting with La Liga title rivals Real Madrid or trophy holders Sevilla awaits in the final, but Villa is reluctant to look beyond the task at hand.

“First of all, we have to respect Almeria,” Villa said.

“We are going to have to fight in order to go through. I hope that we can get to the final, and getting there is enough for us. Choosing our opponents is a bit too much to ask.”

“Madrid have their history and haven’t reached a cup final in a while, and they are a great team. Sevilla have been the team who have had most success in the cup over the past few years. That makes them a hard opponent too in this competition.”