He’s going by helicopter. Barcelona chose an unusual but proven transport for the match

They’re going to go ahead of schedule. Barcelona will play their Copa del Rey Cup semi-final match on Thursday at Ceuta. Along with the city of Melilla, it is one of Spain’s autonomous regions on Moroccan territory. The Blaugranas decided to make part of the journey by helicopter. The players and the implementation team will first travel to Málaga. They will then fly to Ceuta, located in North Africa.

Having ruled out the possibility of flying to Morocco and making the last leg of the journey overland or using a high-speed boat from Algeciras, Barça has decided to repeat the formula it last used in the 2010/11 season.

Back then, the team coached by Pep Guardiola hosted Ceuta in the first leg of the 1/16 Copa del Rey final. The club then planned to make the last leg of the journey to Ceuta for the rematch by helicopter.

Barcelona’s squad will fly to Málaga on Thursday morning and then take a helicopter flight from the airport there. The Catalan big club has negotiated this option with the helicopter company Hélity. It can thus make the trip on the same day as the match, whose kick-off is 20:00 at the Estadio Municipal Alfonso Murube.

The aim is for the players and coaching staff to travel from Málaga by three helicopters. The flight is expected to take about 30 minutes, while the rest could travel by bus to Algeciras and from there by helicopter to Ceuta. This flight is expected to take approximately seven minutes.

FC Barcelona has ruled out air travel from the Catalan capital to the Moroccan cities of Tangier or Tetouan, as well as UD Ibiza and Elche, former rivals of Ceuta in the Copa del Rey. The journey from Tangier to Ceuta takes about an hour and a half by road (77 kilometres), while from Tetouan it takes about 45 minutes (45 kilometres).

Another option was to make the final part of the journey by sea using one of the high-speed boats that connect Ceuta with the port of Algeciras. The journey would take an hour.

However, each of these options was not very beneficial for the players as it involved longer travel times and more logistical complications due to changes in means of transport, as well as bureaucratic burdens if the decision was made to travel via Morocco.

Source: FCBarca