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Valencia striker Edinson Cavani is delighted to be in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals.

Valencia will host Athletic Bilbao after victory in midweek against Sporting Gijon.

Cavani said: "It's very nice to be playing at home at this stage of the competition. I think that every club always wants this, to play in front of their fans. We have to prepare well in order to be at our best, to have a great game and achieve our aim of going through to the next round

"Playing in front of your fans always gives you a boost. That's why I always say how important it is to have a good connection with the fans. You all need to work together. It's the only way to take that step forward and be able to have that boost you sometimes need to win difficult games. We hope that's the case, and that there's a great atmosphere. I know that the Copa del Rey is a big thing here, so I hope that there is a good atmosphere to help us to to go through.

"There are several teams that are doing very well, but this is football and anything can happen on a pitch, and sometimes it's not the team that does things best that wins, but the one that is most efficient."

On Athletic Club, Cavani added: "We knew that whoever we were drawn against it would be difficult at this stage of a competition like this and that if you don't do things and you don't have that cutting edge in front of goal, you can get knocked out.

"We have to keep working as we've been doing, being aware in every training session and in every game that we have important things ahead of us. That's the way we feel and the way I think we have to face every game."

This article first appeared on Tribal Football and was syndicated with permission.

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