Setien: Everything went well except the result Athletic vs Barcelona Inaki Williams goal stunned Barcelona

Barcelona will not be returning to the Copa del Rey final after being eliminated by Athletic Club on Thursday evening, yet Quique Setien believes everything went well for his team, aside from the result.

Los Cules came into the match under a cloud of controversy after a rather public disagreement between Lionel Messi and Eric Abidal, and this result will do little to improve the mood around the club.

"Everything went well except the result," Setien explained in his post-match press conference.

"It's sad to be eliminated, but I think we've taken a step forward in what we need to improve.

"I will take many more things from this match other than the result."

Gerard Pique was forced off in the 80th minute of play through a suspected right adductor injury, with the latest ailment leaving the Spanish coach with a multitude of problems.

"He had suffered a little with a fever and was a bit weaker," Setien added.

"I think he has been overworked a bit.

"I don't expect the injury to be anything serious."

Sergio Busquets believes that Barcelona were unfortunate not to progress to the semi-final, and this is a sentiment that Setien echoed when discussing the second half at San Mames.

"In the second half we generated four or five very clear chances," he intimated.

"Their goal came at time when we couldn't react.

"We played the entire second half in the way we wanted, but we paid the penalty for not scoring when they were uncomfortable."