We were put in our place – Valverde wants more from Barca in cup final

Ernesto Valverde hopes Barcelonas 2-2 draw at Eibar will serve as a wake-up call ahead of the Copa del Rey final.Lionel Messi scored a quick-fire double after Marc Cucurellas opener, but the champions were pegged back in the last game of their LaLiga campaign by Pablo De Blasis equaliser.Barca head to Seville to face Valencia next Saturday as they look to win a record fifth straight Copa del Rey. These are the final league standings of @LaLigaEN 18-19! Congrats champs, see you next season! FORA BARA! pic.twitter.com/7HUv4egb6B FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 19, 2019And manager Valverde knows his side will have to improve if they are to complete another domestic double.All the matches serve (as tests), but Saturdays match will be different because the teams are different and because this was marked by the fact thatEibardidnt play for anything, Valverde said at his press conference, according to Marca.We tried to gauge the intensity of the game and we were good in the first half, but in the second half we couldnt overcome the pressure and we had fewer chances and we made dangerous mistakes.We are ready for the final and the game served us well because we were put in our place.Lionel Messi bagged a brace for Barcelona (Ion Alcoba/AP)Messis brace took him to 50 goals for the campaign in all competitions.He ended the league campaign with 36 goals and claimed the top-scorer award for a record-equalling sixth time.He ended the game playing alongside 21-year-old Barcelona B forward Carles Perez, who came off the bench to make his first-team debut.He said, according to Marca: Im so happy, it has been an unforgettable moment that I will always remember. Carles Perez has made his first team debut today. Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/iWOUljZ4xh FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 19, 2019I wasnt sure if I was going to get my debut this season, but the boss just said to be calm.Im not used to playing on the left, but it felt good in the end.Barcelona confirmed right-back Nelson Semedo had been taken to hospital for routine tests aftersustaining a head injury during the game.[INJURY NEWS]Nlson Semedo has a head injury picked up in the game against Eibar. The player will remain overnight under observation in hospital in Bilbao. The player is expected to return to Barcelona tomorrow Monday. pic.twitter.com/wOVs7bcSwp FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 19, 2019On his squads other injuries, Valverde said: We think that (Marc-Andre) Ter Stegenwill be fine for the final and, while I dont know about (Philippe) Coutinho, it will be difficult for (Ousmane) Dembeleto play. I dont know aboutArthur.Eibar bossJose Luis Mendilibar, whose side finished the campaign in 12th, said: We have got a point that we had never achieved and we have also scored two goals against them, something we did not do against Barcelona either.I am happy with the game, we had our chances to win, but the draw is good.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '3b54f840-4ef5-48aa-8c0d-ddeac0b8fd12');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:match-reports,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'We were put in our place \u2013 Valverde wants more from Barca in cup final'});