Forty years are nothing. Four decades after his father, winger Marcos, who died on February 9, won the Copa del Rey, defender Marcos Alonso can qualify for the final this Wednesday. Getting to La Cartuja would be the first step towards becoming the first tournament champion whose father, grandfather (Marquitos in 1962 with Madrid against Sevilla) and great-grandfather (Luis Zabala in 1942) have also won the Cup in their respective careers. . The current Barcelona defender has several mirrors in which to look, not just one.
Therefore, no one can be surprised that Xavi has trusted Marcos Alonso (32 years old) in the four games played to date in the KO tournament. The former Chelsea player played the final 8 minutes and all of extra time against Intercity, started in Ceuta, came out in 90 against Real Sociedad and completed the Bernabéu derby (0-1) to reach the Camp Nou with an advantage of a goal.
Signed in the summer to be a left back, after the irruption of Balde, Alonso has adapted to playing central thanks to his physique. To the point that 11 of his 15 starts have been in the axis of the rear. There, next to Koundé, the coach will use it before Christensen's loss. The objective will be to shield Ter Stegen and for Barça to keep a clean sheet for the twenty-fourth time this course.
The match will once again be special for him since he grew up in the lower categories of Madrid, where his grandfather was a legend, and where Alonso made his debut in the first team. He went to El Sardinero 13 years and one day ago.
In his six seasons in London, Alonso learned what it is to win an FA Cup (in 2018), as well as a Champions League, a Premier, a Europa League, a Club World Cup and a European Super Cup, but he wants to follow in the footsteps of his family in the Cup.
Luis Zabala packed his bags in 1941 to join Barcelona. In his first season at Les Corts, after avoiding relegation in an agonizing promotion, the defender finished the season by lifting the Cup against his former team, Athletic, after extra time (4-3). It was also Marcos' first season at the Camp Nou when on June 4, 1983 he flew to hunt Julio Alberto's cross with a header and beat Miguel Ángel in the last minute of the final (2-1). Forty or eighty years are nothing to increase this Cup lineage in its first year as a blaugrana.
