The Catalan giants FC Barcelona will travel to the North African coast on Thursday to play AD Ceuta in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey. The Spanish Supercopa champions will travel to the tiny Spanish territory on the northern coast of Africa, which borders Morocco.
The Copa del Rey journey of FC Barcelona has been interesting because they needed extra time to beat Intercity, a team from the third division, 4-3 in the last round. The giants of Catalonia will now travel to Ceuta, which has been under Spanish control since 1580. However, Morocco does not officially recognize it as Spanish territory, resulting in heated exchanges in the past.
Barcelona To Face Ceuta
Around 85,000 people live in the city of Ceuta, which is home to four distinct cultures that coexist there. It is a city that takes great pride in its peaceful lifestyle and Mediterranean cuisine. The city is closer to Tangier and Rabat, two Moroccan cities, than it is to Madrid and Barcelona. As a result, Morocco’s World Cup matchup in Qatar turned into an interesting and emotional tug-of-war, with Morocco surprising winning on penalties.
Since its inception in 1956, the Ceuta football team has participated in the Spanish league system. The group is last in Primera RFEF Group 1 at the moment. Ceuta has made it this far in the Copa del Rey by defeating second-tier Ibiza and LaLiga team Elche, despite their poor league form. This has served as a welcome distraction for Ceuta.
For the match that will take place in Ceuta, a Spanish province, FC Barcelona will travel to Africa. After flying to Malaga, which is on the south coast of Spain, the team will use helicopters to fly into Ceuta from the Mediterranean. Compared to the journey that the team representing Melilla, another Spanish enclave in north Africa, had to take in 2018 to get to Madrid, this one is much more comfortable.
Barcelona’s coach, Xavi Hernandez, said that his team was fortunate to be paired with the competition’s smallest team. Jose Juan Romero, the coach of Ceuta, responded by saying, “He [Xavi] could have said it in another way.” It hasn’t gone over well with anyone, not even the club. We won’t ask for shirts before the game.
