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The inclusion of young Chumi in the loss in the first leg of the Barca could compromise his future in competition, no matter how Thursday's game ends
Levante President Quico Catalan has confirmed that his team will officially file a complaint with the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for irregularities at the Copa del Rey in Barcelona last week.
The Valencia team has caused a huge surprise in the last 16 days by beating Barcelona 2-1 in the first leg.
Erick Cabaco and Borja Mayoral hit in the first half for the hosts, while Philippe Coutinho put a shot back for his side with a late penalty to keep the tie hung with a knife.
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Preparations for Thursday's return leg were, however, dominated by reports that Barca had lined up a non-eligible player in the opening match and that the latter could be eliminated from the competition.
Barcelona defender B Chumi, who played in the first 58 minutes of the first leg, should have been suspended after a fifth booking in Segunda Division B.
The Catalans argued that they thought the suspension was only valid for league games, a position later denied by the RFEF.
And Levante is committed to continuing the case, no matter how the decision ends on Thursday.
"It is not an easy situation, we sports people like to win on the field," confirmed Catalan to reporters before the kickoff.
"Whatever happens, Levante will go to the federation with this situation tomorrow.
"There will be a complaint if we are not qualified, and if we do, there will be a report to the federation to explain what happened."
According to some reports, the delay between the first step and Levante's complaint could invalidate their request, as there is an implicit grace period of 48 hours after the final whistle for filing such submissions.
Catalan is nevertheless convinced that previous cases, such as a similar complaint filed by Real Sociedad B against Cultural Leonesa outside this window, mean that these people should be heard.
"We understand that there are enough precedents allowing Levante to go to the Federation unfortunately with these facts," he added.
"Our legal department will continue to work and work all night to prepare the details of the declaration we will send to you tomorrow, but we understand that we have the precedent and the solid foundation to do so."
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If the RFEF are against Barcelona, they could face a fate identical to that of Real Madrid, their rival Liga in 2015.
In this case, the Merengue had included Denis Cheryshev in a clash of the Copa del Rey against Cadiz, unaware that the Russian was ineligible to play after registering three Copa bookings.
Cadiz contested the result because of this offense and Madrid was excluded from the tournament, which was eventually won by Barcelona.
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