Barca's big concern ahead of the Copa del Rey final

As reported by Spanish daily 'AS', Barca's back-up keeper hasn't played in over two months, a significant period of time for any player, but something that becomes even more important for a goalkeeper.

Cillessen's last appearance came back on February 8, in the second leg of the semi-finals against Valencia. Since then, Barca have played 16 games, with the Dutchman not playing a single minute, but despite his lack of action he is expected to get the nod on Saturday, owing to his status as cup goalkeeper.

Ernesto Valverde fielded a much-changed side against Celta Vigo in midweek, but opted not to change his goalkeeper, denying Cillessen the chance to get back into the swing of things ahead of Saturday.

At the age of 28, Cillessaen has played 810 minutes this season spead across nine games and despite his lack of minutes, his record is quite impressive, having only conceded twice during his time on the pitch, once against Celta and once against Espanyol in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, both of which came in January.

Confidence is likely to be key for Cillessen on Saturday and knowing that he has the faith of Valverde and his staff, combined with the motivation to win a title should see him come good.

Curiously, if Cillessen doesn't feature against following the final, he will end the campaign having played the same number of minutes as the previous season, only with a much better record, having only picked the ball out of his net twice so far this season compaared to nine times last term.