MADRID, Jan. 21 (SportsFinding) –
The Copa del Rey will live on Wednesday the premiere of the Champions League teams that have been exempt in the first two qualifiers, with the illusion spread in Ibiza, Salamanca and Logroño, the cities that dream of giving the bell against Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia, respectively.
The Can Misses stadium, where the Ibiza Sports Union plays on artificial grass, will expand its usual capacity by almost 2,000 seats to host the second meeting of the 'Setién era', which opened with a tight victory over Granada. An elimination on the Balearic island would be fatal for the new Barça project under the command of the Cantabrian coach.
Founded in 2015, Ibiza occupies the third position in Group I of the bronze division and is currently linked to well-known names of Spanish football as its owner Amadeo Salvo, former president of Valencia, or his coach Pablo Alfaro, captain of Sevilla during several seasons and he got to wear the Barça shirt.
The Barca team will attend the event without its main star, a Leo Messi who will stay in Barcelona next to the central Gerard Piqué and midfielder Sergio Busquets, who draws a penalty last season. Thus, they join the absences of the injured Luis Suárez and Dembélé.
Another very 'young' club is the Unionistas de Salamanca, founded in 2013 by fans of the former Salamanca Sports Union. The charro team is suffering this season in Group II of Second B, where it occupies the sixteenth position and fights for salvation, but comes from eliminating Deportivo de La Coruña on penalties and will live a historic day against Real Madrid, which will receive in Las Pistas, stadium with capacity for 4,000 people.
Zidane has warned his players that they must be “sportingly prepared for anything” at the Salamanca stadium, where important players such as Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Rodrygo Goes will not be at rest. In this way, a good opportunity is expected for players who do not usually have many minutes, but within a list without trusts where no affiliate players appear.
LAS GAUNAS, OBSTACLE FOR VALENCIA
Nor is the history of the Logroñés Sports Union, founded in 2009 after the disappearance of the historic Logroñés Sports Club. The La Rioja team, which comes from eliminating Cádiz on penalties, is completing a great season and leads Group II dreaming of his first ascent to Second.
The Logroñés already faced in the 2010-11 season with Valencia, when it was imposed by a 7-1 overall in that double match eliminator. The ché team, which will release on its shirt the new badge created by the RFEF to distinguish the current champion, arrives wanting to compensate after the win conceded in Mallorca (4-1). Albert Celades has only left out by technical decision Gabriel Paulista and Denis Cheryshev.
The other more 'designated' tie this Wednesday will be played at Estadi Municipal de Badalona between the home team and Granada. Badalona is seventeenth in Group III and his main fight is to avoid relegation to Third, but he already surprised Getafe (2-0) and now he is excited about another First victim.
SAN SEBASTIÁN TESTS THE 'NEW' ESPANYOL
The only duel between First teams will be lived at Real Arena, where Real Sociedad will receive Espanyol, two teams that go through opposite moments. The Basque team arrives with doubts after chaining two league losses, while the 'parakeets' have resurfaced with the arrival on the bench of Abelardo Fernández and also wish to transfer their improvement to the Cup, where Leandro Cabrera could debut but Raúl de Tomás will not be there.
In addition, it also highlights the return of Athletic Club to Martínez Valero de Elche, where he eliminated Intercity CF in the first round of this edition of the Cup. Both teams will reissue the 1969 Generalissimo Cup final, in which the Bilbao team won (1-0). On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of this event, the Blanquiverde club had requested the Basque to be his rival in the Festa d'Elx Trophy, but this was postponed to 2020 because the grass of the field was replanted.
Finally, the day is completed with two duels between First and Second teams. The scenarios will be Montilivi, where Girona will receive Villarreal, and Heliodoro Rodríguez López, where Tenerife will challenge Real Valladolid.
– WEDNESDAY PROGRAM IN THE KING'S CUP.
Ibiza – FC Barcelona 19.00.
Elche – Athletic Club 19.00.
Unionists – Real Madrid 21.00.
Logroñés – Valencia 21.00.
Real Sociedad – RCD Espanyol 21.00.
Tenerife – Real Valladolid 21.00.
Badalona – Granada 21.00.
Girona – Villarreal 21.00.