First, Spanish Championship. His Majesty the King, His Excellency the President of the Republic and His Excellency the Generalissimo. Finally, and until today, from the Majesty of him the King. The Cup, in short, the oldest club competition played in Spain and this Saturday will experience its 120th final, in La Cartuja (10:00 p.m.) between two teams that could not understand their history without this tournament.
The Valencia CF and the Real Betiswinners of eight and two titles, respectively, a list of winners that the former long to expand with the essence of ‘anger’ and the tolerance of defeat for the latter. Two philosophies of life, that of Valencianism and Beticism, for which the Cup is a unique opportunity to rediscover a title.
Bronco and cupbearer
The benefits of the team that are today far from that generation that came to play two Champions League finals at the turn of the century. Broken down that core and already guessing in no man’s land of the league tournament, he won the 2008 edition, “the irreverent title”as defined Sergio Calvo, historian and Valencianist, who measures the impact that the Cup has had on the history of a club that has won it eight times. The last one, in 2019, against Barça in Sevillecuriously in the field of this Saturday’s rival, Vilamarín.
“Valencia reached five cup finals in the forties, in nine seasons. Three of them consecutive and, by the way, all three ended with defeat in the same stadium (Montjuic). That of 41, raised by Juan RamonIt was the first title in the club’s history. From then on, Cup victories are a constant where the spirit is forged “bronco and cupbearer”by which Valencia is still known and which, according to Calvo, also represents the Valencia of José Bordalás“who has understood very well the idiosyncrasy and character of the club”.
Each edition in which Valencia advanced to the final has its spirit. “The Cups of the forties – Calvo lists – are the result of a golden age. That team would have amazed the planet had it not been locked up behind the Pyrenees. Justice for the great forgotten captain who was Monzó, the breed of Roberto Gil in that already European Valencia (1967), that of the senyera (1979), with the arms of Kempes to heaven, the ecstasy of the birth of the great Valencia in La Cartuja (1999), the title irrevered from Koeman (2008), the Centennial Cup… (2019)”.
The great Betic title
For ‘beticismo’, “the importance of the Cup is maximum”, as explained to this newspaper Alfonso del CastilloBetis and member of the Spanish Football History and Statistics Research Center (CIHEFE).
“It is the official competition in which Betis fans have seen the team win a title, either in 1977 o 2005 (the two that work in their showcases), since the 1935 League championship falls far away and there are no surviving fans from that time. And the younger generations have grown up with the mysticism that their parents and grandparents have told them about these two conquests”, he justifies.
Behind the first two Betis cup finals there is a historical symbolism. The first, from 1931, in times of the Republic. That of 1977, the first under the name Copa del Rey, “which began a new time, coinciding with the new democratic winds that were opening in the country. It was held 10 days after the first elections held in Spain in 40 years. New time and first triumph”.
Betis pulled a thorn out of 46 years, although the two defeats have remained in the Verdiblanco imaginary. “The 1931 final marked the appearance of the team in the context of national football. It should be noted that it was the first time that a club that was not Catalan, Madrid or Basque had reached the final and that Betis was still in the Second Division”.
The one in 1997, against Barcelona, was “the great missed opportunity”. “Possibly the best team of the four finals played by Betis, who stood up. That defeat, five minutes away, was an injustice. A team with players like Alfonso, Alexis, Jarni o Finished it should have also gone to the best verdiblanca history”, recalls Del Castillo from the very Betic philosophy of ‘misspierda‘.
“The trait that historically characterizes this hobby is fidelity. After the toughest years of the Third Division (1947-54) said a Betic meaning ‘we were less than nothing’. That’s where the mystique of the ‘manquepierda’ arose, a cry of fidelity and rebellion in the face of a terrifying situation. Today the sporting, economic and social situation of the club is not the same, but the ‘manquepierda’, logically updated, must continue to be present”, defends this lover of the history of Real Betis Balompié. The team recovered from its history in 1977, with the Cup that won Athletic on penalties in a duel for history between two great goalkeepers: Esnaola e Iribar. The second missed the first in the decisive shot.
The Cup of Water
In the memory of the Valencian player Sergi Calvo there is also a defeat, even above the victories. That 1995 final between the Deportivo and Valencia who lived a sharp enmity for the mistaken penalty of Djukic against the Valencian team that deprived the Galician team of a league. The trophy was awarded in revenge by Superdeporter in a match that had to be suspended due to the universal deluge that fell in Madrid, venue of the final. It was the Cup of Water.
On this day in 1995, the Bernabéu staged the Copa del Rey final between Deportivo La Coruña & Valencia.
It rained a bit… pic.twitter.com/O32IQT71O2— Stadiums in Spain (@estadios_Spain) June 24, 2021
“It is my great memory. Much more than the Cups of La Cartuja (1999) and the Centennial Cup (2018). Do I regret having lost my health on that night train, soaked to the bone, for being in a game that didn’t even end? I would return even if they fell thousand storms. Whether we win or lose this Saturday in Seville, authentic and heartfelt Valencianism, anarchic and irreducible, will return from the Andalusian capital stronger”, defends the component of a hobby that maintains a complicated relationship with the directive that it heads Peter Lim.
“In reality, that of ‘social peace’ is a chimera in Valencia. A daydream. Always, even in those black and white days, the club has been mired in self-destructive spirals and conflicts. Therefore, it is always a good time for a Cup”, defends the Valencian historian, for whom the label of “runner-up” benefits the Bordalás team, 15 points from Betiswho is still struggling to get into the Champions League and against whom he lost 4-1 in the first round match.
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The beticismo does not hide that it lives an exciting season after competing with solvency in three competitions. “The wickers of a great Betis are on”, assures the member of a social mass, “except for very specific moments, which have almost always been behind in history”, for which he trusts Pellegrini to “make all the players see that this is far from won. That triumphalism that is detected in the fans, due to the fact of playing in Seville and due to the good times, cannot be transmitted under any circumstances to the players or the coaching staff, as it would be very dangerous”.
“In Valencia we know very well that a final is never what it seems”, warns Sergi Calvo. “It’s not really playing at home, but as if it were”, Alfonso del Castillo protects himself. On Saturday, each will write a page in the history of Valencia and Betis in a different way. A final without good or bad, just cupbearers.