Heart attack rooms: Athletic-Real Madrid and Real-Betis

The Cup final is just two steps away and eight teams are fighting for it. Today the quarterfinals of the KO tournament have been drawn, leaving some heart-stopping pairings. Real Madrid, after coming back from Elche in extra time and getting into the next round, has become the rival to beat and the one everyone wanted to avoid in the draw. Athletic will be their opponent in this new tie. Another of the favorites to the wound, which comes from eliminating Barcelona.

From February 1 to 3, the quarterfinals of a Cup that is proving to be lethal for the biggest will be played in a single match. “With this format, it is unpredictable to say a favourite. Anything can happen”, warned David Villa, World and European champion with the National Team, who was in charge of extracting the balls during the ceremony. Barcelona, ​​current champion, is already evicted from the tournament; Atlético and Sevilla, other of the two candidates for the wound, are also out. But There are still big names in the running and many winners in this KO tournament. This was demonstrated by the draw held at the Ciudad del Fútbol de Las Rozas, which It was pure, without conditions as in all previous rounds. Everyone could face everyone and, on top of that, it was the first round with only First Division teams. There are no modest or Second clubs left standing.

Real Madrid, which has been in a drought for eight years, is the big favorite to win the title. He carries such a label for being the leader of the First Division and for having managed to overcome Elche in extra time in the round of 16. The ogre and rival to beat in the tournament was paired with Athletic, who qualified after eliminating Barcelona in the previous round in extra time. Both had not seen each other in the Cup quarterfinals since 1961. More than half a century has passed. San Mamés will once again experience a great night of partying and football. 42 Cup titles will face each other: 23 of the lions by 19 of the whites. In addition, Athletic arrives with the aim of removing the thorn of the last two years, which have reached the Cup finals, but fell in both.

Real Betis, one of this season’s revelation teams, will face Real Sociedad, the executioner of Atlético de Madrid. Valencia, for its part, will receive Cádiz at the Mestalla, one of the two teams that is still standing without a Copa del Rey in its showcases. And the other team without this wound is Rayo de Iraola, another of the clubs that are causing the most surprises this season. They will play in Vallecas against Mallorca.

This round will also have a peculiarity. It will coincide with the end of the national team break, which will harm several teams since they will not be able to handle several of their international players. As are the cases of Pezzella and Guido at Betis, Falcao at Rayo, Maxi Gómez and Alderete at Valencia or Casemiro, Militao, Rodrygo, Vinicius and Valverde at Real Madrid.

quarter pairings

Athletic – Real Madrid

Royal Society – Betis

Valencia – Cadiz

Lightning – Majorca

Dates of the Copa del Rey qualifiers 2021-22

Rooms: February 2.

Semi-final first leg: February 9.

semi-final second leg: March 2.

Final: April 23rd.