The Athletic Club fan who has been thinking for weeks about how to derail Barça

BarcelonaTxus Vidorreta has been on the other side of the microphone. The La Laguna Tenerife coach was a journalist, which gives him great control of communication. Nothing he does on the court or in the press room is improvised. The Basque often overacts, but he never deviates from a script that usually drives his opponent crazy as one of his priorities. A few days ago he imitated Stephen Curry to send Gerard Encuentra to sleep and accused the Hiopos Lleida coach of spying on his instructions. A little later he celebrated a victory against Pinar Karsiyaka whose gesture ended up unintentionally sending a camera operator to the ground. Six years ago he got down on his knees to criticise the refereeing during a Copa del Rey tie against Barça, his rival this Thursday (9.30pm, Movistar Plus+).

"My success is my ability to connect with the players," boasts Vidorreta, who has more than 40 years of experience in coaching. He was already a coach when he was just 15 years old. "I don't live too much controversy," says the coach, who doesn't want to have anything to do with social media. Irony is his weapon of choice. "With millions, men and women guarantee Barça. Because with millions, it turns out that they have supermillion squads of 15 players. It is not possible. Since the new Euro League has been created, the difference is abysmal at all levels: press, sports... They have the millions "When they are there, it is very difficult. Against us, they are always there," argues Vidorreta, who is a great fan of the Athletic Club.

"Barça is the favourite, but we will try to spring a surprise," he says openly. The three previous Copa del Rey matches favour Barça, who also won the first round of the Liga Endesa. "There are two aspects that will be fundamental: rebounding and defending the transition game. They have a squad with extraordinary players," confirms Vidorreta.

His Tenerife has 10 players over 30 years old and that is synonymous with experience. The coach needs players with a great tactical background to interpret his strategies. The big novelty with respect to other seasons is the contribution of David Kramer, a German forward who has increased the possibilities of his perimeter game.

Barça are coming into the tournament without Nico Laprovittola and Jan Vesely. Joan Peñarroya sums up the Blaugrana's irregularity better than anyone. "We can beat any rival and suffer against any other," he admits. However, the coach from Egar does not hide his ambition. "We will go out with the intention of winning the last game. The team wants to compete. The players come with the intention of winning titles. This season we have the first option. We are having the season we are having, competing almost always, with problems almost always, but always standing up for ourselves," he argues.

Difficult challenge for the Peña

Joventut play this Thursday (18.30 CET) against Unicaja. La Penya, who will be without Miguel Allen, completed the expedition with the young Ian Platteeuw. "We have to be intelligent and play at our maximum intensity. When we have been clear as a team about the things we must do and have been faithful to our principles in times of stress, we have competed well. In the Cup you have to be able to be patient, transmit ideas that we can all follow, and we hope to reach a final where we have the chance.