Valencia head into their
second leg tie against Barcelona on Thursday and coach Marcelino wants
to see an intense match, but one where his team remain calm and
composed.
Luis
Suarez scored the only goal in the first leg and was a constant menace
for the Valencia defence, and Marcelino is aware that they must keep
their cool against the Uruguayan.
"We all know each other and we must know how the rival plays," said Marcelino.
"We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted by our opponents, moving away from football. We must not fall into provocations."
Lionel Messi was rested for most of the Catalan derby against Espanyol on Sunday and Marcelino recognises that Barcelona are a different team without the Argentine.
"Valencia and other teams face a Barcelona with Messi or a Barcelona without Messi," he said. "They have fewer resources without Messi, it's obvious.
"They have a lot of enthusiasm in the latter stages of competitions, and I also think they respect us very much as they made five changes [against Espanyol].
"We will face the best Barcelona team and that will give us more motivation."
This is Marcelino's first season at Valencia and reaching the Copa del Rey final would prove to be a major accomplishment, along with their stellar form in LaLiga thus far.
"I don't know whether we deserve [to reach the final] or not, but what I am convinced by is that we want it," he continued.
"We play against the clear favourite of the competition with a difficult result. The players are convinced and we are going to leave everything on the pitch.
"We expect a long and tough game, but we are going to put Barcelona in great trouble."
Gerard Pique has been ruled out of the second leg with a knock to his knee, but it was Pique's grandfather who announced the news rather than the club.
"If they have to play hide-and-seek with us [by not announcing the injury], they respect us even more," said Marcelino.
"We all know each other and we must know how the rival plays," said Marcelino.
"We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted by our opponents, moving away from football. We must not fall into provocations."
Lionel Messi was rested for most of the Catalan derby against Espanyol on Sunday and Marcelino recognises that Barcelona are a different team without the Argentine.
"Valencia and other teams face a Barcelona with Messi or a Barcelona without Messi," he said. "They have fewer resources without Messi, it's obvious.
"They have a lot of enthusiasm in the latter stages of competitions, and I also think they respect us very much as they made five changes [against Espanyol].
"We will face the best Barcelona team and that will give us more motivation."
This is Marcelino's first season at Valencia and reaching the Copa del Rey final would prove to be a major accomplishment, along with their stellar form in LaLiga thus far.
"I don't know whether we deserve [to reach the final] or not, but what I am convinced by is that we want it," he continued.
"We play against the clear favourite of the competition with a difficult result. The players are convinced and we are going to leave everything on the pitch.
"We expect a long and tough game, but we are going to put Barcelona in great trouble."
Gerard Pique has been ruled out of the second leg with a knock to his knee, but it was Pique's grandfather who announced the news rather than the club.
"If they have to play hide-and-seek with us [by not announcing the injury], they respect us even more," said Marcelino.
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