Gary Neville ‘can’t wait’ to face Barcelona in Copa del Rey: ‘These are the moments you live for’

Gary Neville is yet to taste victory in the Primera Liga in eight attempts but has guided Valencia into the Copa del Rey semi-finals. Manuel Bruque / EPA

European champions Barcelona continue their quest for a second consecutive treble when Gary Neville’s off-form Valencia visit the Camp Nou in the first-leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final on Wednesday.

Valencia’s run to the last four of the Cup has been the only positive of a difficult start for Neville in his first managerial role.

A first defeat at home in the Primera Liga since November 2014, 1-0 against Sporting Gijón on Sunday, stretched Neville’s winless streak in the league to eight games and left Valencia just five points above the relegation zone.

Valencia face the most daunting task possible if they are to reach the final for the first time since 2008 against a Barca side that hasn’t lost in 26 matches in all competitions.

However, Neville said he is embracing the challenge of returning to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs where as a player he won the Uefa Champions League with Manchester United back in 1999.

“I can’t wait for Wednesday night, and I think the players will be the same. These are the moments you live for as a coach and a player,” he said.

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One of Neville’s boldest moves has been to name top scorer Paco Alcacer captain in place of Dani Parejo and he is hopeful the Spain striker will be fit to feature after two weeks out with an ankle injury.

“By Tuesday we’ll have a full complement of players,” Neville said. “Paco is looking good and is back running again.”

The visitors could also hand debuts to Denis Cheryshev and Guilherme Siqueira after they sealed loan deals from Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid respectively until the end of the season.

Cheryshev’s inclusion in the Madrid team for their Copa del Rey opener at Cadiz saw them thrown out the competition as he was suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards last season.

However, he is free to feature at the Camp Nou.

“Barcelona are a great opponent, but Valencia also can also do some damage,” Cheryshev said.

Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has a fully-fit squad to choose from and is likely to rotate after his side showed growing signs of fatigue from their demanding January schedule in edging past nine-man Atletico Madrid 2-1 on Saturday.

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“It suits us to have four days rest before hosting Valencia,” defender Javier Mascherano said.

“We have managed to keep winning and we’re in an ideal situation, but in any moment it can slip away so we have to keep going.”

The other semi-final sees Sevilla entertain Celta Vigo in their first-leg on Thursday.

After a difficult start to the campaign, Sevilla have won 11 consecutive games in all competitions at home.

Celta caused the shock of the quarter-finals by knocking out Atletico and will be boosted by the return of Spain international Nolito.

The former Barcelona forward has not played since December due to a hamstring injury and was strongly linked with a return to Barca, but the move was scuppered by the tight financial restrictions on Barca to comply with financial fair play.

“We always knew Nolito’s intention was to stay here,” Celta captain Hugo Mallo said.

“We are waiting for him with open arms because he is a player that can decide games.”

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