The Municipal de Sa Plana, with artificial grass, hosts this Wednesday a historic duel for the modest Andratx, from the Second RFEF, and for his dream of eliminating Sevilla, one of the powerful Spanish football and soccer players, in the second round of the Cup. who arrives in Mallorca without confidence and warned that he will have to hide to avoid what would be a disaster.
In the game of his life, the most important in the history of the club in that Mallorcan town of about 10,000 inhabitants, Andratx wants to make it difficult for the almighty Seville in a date that Julen Lopetegui’s team faces with the deficit of the numerous casualties that it they have declined in recent weeks, up to seven in this case and all of decisive players.
The Balearic team plays on the synthetic grass field of Sa Plana, located in the westernmost part of the Serra de Tramuntana, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, a circumstance, that of artificial grass, to which the Sevilla fans will try to adapt best possible and for this they trained this Tuesday in one of the same material from their Sports City.
With respect for the rival ahead, a classic in Lopetegui, and the difficulty of this single-game cup format, the difference in level is notorious. Sevilla is second in LaLiga and, in addition, recovered their spirits in Bilbao (0-1) after the blow of their elimination from the ‘Champions’ – they will play the Europa League against Dinamo Zagreb-.
Even so, the Gipuzkoan has made it clear that they will have to compete well against a good adversary and with that added problem of artificial turf, which he has downplayed, in addition to the fact that both he and his squad are warned, since they already had to suffer in the first round of the Copa del Rey by not beating Córdoba, also from Second RFEF, until extra time (0-1).
Another warning that they do not lose sight of is that the “andritxol” team, seventh in Group 3 of that fourth category of Spanish football, was the only one that eliminated a higher category, Real Oviedo (2-1), in the previous round, with which Lopetegui is expected to line up his best eleven possible taking into account the injuries.
In addition to the long-term events of Jesús Navas, Suso, the Moroccan Youssef En-Nesyri and the Argentine Erik Lamela, the also Argentine Marcos Acuña, injured two days ago, and Lucas Ocampos, who was not in San Mamés, and Brazilian Fernando Reges has joined them, with discomfort.
Swedish full-back Ludwig Augustinsson and Brazilian central Diego Carlos Santos are ‘touched’, but they have entered the squad together with seven team members: goalkeeper Alberto Flores, full-back Juan María, midfielders Juanlu, Nacho Quintana, Luismi Cruz and Zarzana, and the forward Iván Romero, who could be the starter accompanying Munir El Haddadi or the Moroccan Oussama Idrissi.
Faced with injuries and doubts in Sevilla, the town of Andratx has thrown the house out the window to be at the height of its almighty cup rival and continue dreaming after eliminating Oviedo. It has been overturned with the event and not a single one of the 2,000 seats put up for sale remains available.
The club, founded in 1957, has increased the capacity of Sa Plana with additional stands to 2,000 -800 more than in the clash with Oviedo- and has complied with all the requirements imposed by the Spanish Football Federation to host one of the duels most attractive of the second round of the Cup.
The Balearic team wants to “compete and have fun”, according to its president, Rafael Ribot, and its coach, José Contreras. Its squad is made up of players who have to train in the afternoons because the vast majority combine football with other activities.
Many of them earn their living as policemen, electricians, transporters; there are also INEF, engineering and law students.
The club has limited resources, it cannot pay high figures and, in fact, its president admitted to Efe that the income from the game against Sevilla has “saved the budget for the entire season.”
The harsh demands of the Second RFEF and Copa del Rey competitions have also taken their toll on Contreras’ eleven, who will not be able to count on five of his most decisive players, including Marcos Jiménez and Jaime Calonge, the latter injured in the past league match.
POSSIBLE ALIGNMENTS:
Andratx: Mingo or Vicens; Pep Vidal, Damiá Ramos, Guillem Palmer, Gerardo Bonet, Llabrés, Vinicius, Álvaro de Dios, Pau Pomar, Markus and Carlos Lorente.
Seville: Dmitrovic; Montiel, Koundé, Rekik, Augustinsson; Gudelj, Óliver Torres; Óscar Rodríguez, Rakitic, Idrissi or Munir; and Iván Romero.
Referee: Martínez Munuera (Valencian Committee).
Stadium: Municipal de Sa Plana.
Time: 19.00 (DZAN)