In El Sadar, Real Sociedad seeks to be among the best eight again and Valencia and Celta, to get excited about the cup tournament
MADRID, 16 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Girona and Rayo Vallecano play in Montilivi this Wednesday in a Copa del Rey round of 16 duel in which Míchel's men will try to reach the penultimate round of the 'KO' tournament for the second time in their history, while Valencia hosts Celta in Mestalla and Real Sociedad will seek their place against Osasuna, current runner-up in the competition.
Girona, current leader of the First Division, plays at home against Rayo to advance to the quarterfinals that it has only reached once. The Catalan team will seek to transfer the good dynamics in which it is immersed in the domestic championship to the 'KO' competition, in which it seeks to equal its best historical result, achieved in 2018-19, an edition in which it lost to the Real Madrid in the penultimate round of the tournament.
For its part, Rayo Vallecano visits Catalonia with the intention of being in the quarterfinals for the second time in the last three seasons. To do this, they will have to defeat the fashionable team of Spanish football, something they already achieved two seasons ago in this same round, when the team then led by Andoni Iraola managed to overcome Bernardo's initial goal thanks to a double from Sergi Guardiola.
A tie to which both arrive in good dynamics. The rojiblancos, despite not going beyond a tie against the bottom team, added a point to become the sole leaders of LaLiga EA Sports, chaining their 15th game without losing, while the team from the fringe, which did not play in the league matchday, won in their last match against Huesca in the Cup (0-2). Furthermore, the Madrid team have not lost in any of their last four visits to Montilivi.
In terms of sports, Míchel is expected to make rotations with respect to the eleven that started at the Power Horse Stadium, where players like Yangel Herrera, Savinho and Tsygankov were substitutes. On the other hand, the lineup of the Vallecanos could be very similar to the one presented in the previous tie, with the combination of starters such as Raúl de Tomás, Mumin or Espino and less common ones such as Ratiu, Nteka or De Frutos.
On the other hand, Osasuna, current runner-up in the tournament, wants to make the home field count against Real Sociedad and thus reach the quarterfinals for the second consecutive season. It will not be easy, since opposite will be Imanol Alguacil's team, which has only missed the quarterfinal draw once in the last three seasons, and who managed to win the title in 2020.
Jagoba Arrasate's team will arrive at the match with six days of rest after losing to Barça in the semi-finals of the Super Cup, while the Donostiarras, who suffered a tough defeat against Athletic in LaLiga last Saturday, have had two days less to prepare for the tie. A duel between Navarrese and the Basques that ended in a draw a little over a month ago, although in history it falls on the side of the Gipuzkoans, who have not lost in El Sadar since 2012.
In sports, the coach of the 'txuri urdin' team recovers Sadiq, who returned from the Africa Cup with knee problems but who has entered the squad, although he has a lack of personnel on the right side of the defense due to the losses of Odriozola and Traoré. For its part, Chimy Ávila is the only doubt for the match for Arrasate, who recovers Unai García.
Finally, Valencia and Celta, who arrive after achieving good league results in recent days, seek to continue dreaming of going far in the competition. The 'Che' fans have reconnected with the team after Rubén Baraja's men linked four consecutive wins for the first time since December 2021. Furthermore, in his last three games he has scored 9 goals, a fact that shows the great moment his attacking players are going through.
Opposite will be Rafa Benítez's Celta, who, after taking a breath in LaLiga, wants to find the best centenary gift in the Cup. However, to do so, the light blue team needs to defeat Valencia at Mestalla, something they have not achieved since the round of 16 of the Cup in the 2016-17 season, when they won 1-4. Since then, the balance in Valencian lands is not very encouraging, since they have gone eight games without winning, losing in six of them.
-CUP OF THE KING'S EIGHTH FINALS PROGRAM
Wednesday the 17th.
Valencia – Celtic. From Burgos Bengoetxea (C.Vasco) 20.00.
Osasuna – Real Sociedad. Hernández Hernández (C.Las Palmas) 21.00.
Girona – Rayo Vallecano. Figueroa Vazquez (C.Andaluz)
Thursday the 18th.
Unionists – Barcelona. Hernández Maeso (C.Extremeño) 7:30 p.m.
Atlético de Madrid – Real Madrid. Cuadra Fernández (C.Balearic)21.30.