MADRID 3 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Athletic Club, current champion, and the struggling FC Barcelona will debut this Saturday in the Copa del Rey MAPFRE in a round of 32 that will also test how the change of year has felt for an Atlético de Madrid that ended in 2024 launched, while there will also be an interesting Andalusian derby between UD Almería and Sevilla FC.
In Logroño and a stadium with a football aroma like Las Gaunas (9:30 p.m.) the start of the defense of the Athletic Club title will take place against a UD Logroñés that will try to cause the big surprise against one of the teams least likely to fail in this competition.
The Cup arouses a lot of enthusiasm in Bilbao and among the ‘athleticzales’, who in 2024 were finally able to win a great title again 40 years later to take the barge across the estuary. The title, the twenty-fifth of their record, against RCD Mallorca confirmed their love affair with a tournament where they have accumulated five consecutive semi-finals and where they do not usually give much margin to lower category teams even when they play single-match eliminators.
Athletic has a total of 25 crosses in a single match without being eliminated and the team coached by Ernesto Valverde wants to maintain this good streak against Logroñés, which has already shown its danger in this cup edition where it has eliminated two higher category teams such as SD Eibar, from LaLiga Hypermotion, and, above all, Girona FC, after some epic penalties with a winger, Pol Arnau, acting as goalkeeper, a role in which his father, the deceased, excelled. Francesc Arnau.
The current champion, who has not been eliminated by a team from a lower division since Formentera did so in the round of 32 of 2017-2018, then in a double match, will go without relaxation or without thinking too much about the Spanish Super Cup in which They will face FC Barcelona in the semifinals, and supported by a great moment of 14 games without losing since they fell in Montilivi at the beginning of October.
Valverde will not be able to count on the injured Oihan Sancet, Íñigo Ruiz de Galarreta and Yeray Álvarez, and could give minutes to less regulars such as Álvaro Djaló, Javier Martón, Unai Núñez or Ander Herrera against a strong Logroñés in their stadium, where they have not lost yet this year in their Second RFEF group where they are fourth, and which stands out for their defensive order, with only nine goals conceded, as they already demonstrated against the Girona, against which they tied without goals.
THE BOAT SEEKS RELIEF, THE ATLETICO DOES NOT LOSE THE RHYTHM
At 7:00 p.m., another modest team, UD Barbastro, also from the Second RFEF, will try to wage ‘war’ against another ‘big’ and ‘king’ of the competition like FC Barcelona, who will arrive in the Alto Aragonese town ready to put an end to doubts and have some joy in a complex moment.
Barça, great dominator at the start of the season, has been stuck since November and has gone from leading LaLiga EA Sports to being surpassed by Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid. Of their last nine games, they have only been able to win three, two of them in the Champions League, and only added one of the last nine league points, with two defeats in a row to close 2024 at the Lluís Companys against Leganés and Atlético.
Added to this decline in sports is the problems brought about by the lack of registrations of Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor, so the club is obliged to avoid an unforeseen elimination or even a scare against a team that awaits them with desire for revenge after last year’s crossing in the same round in which they lost 2-3 in a Municipal de Barbastro willing to put all the pressure possible and help their team, more aware of their poor situation in their group, where they occupy relegation positions.
Furthermore, FC Barcelona has to face the Spanish Super Cup next week and this could cause coach Hansi Flick to opt for rotations for its debut in the Copa del Rey where he will not be able to count on Ferran Torres or Andreas Christensen, and where he will surely reserve Lamine Yamal, recently recovered from his ankle injury.
More lively is Atlético de Madrid, which will have a symbolic duel with Marbella FC, a Primera RFEF team, at the La Rosaleda Stadium (9:30 p.m.), the same stage where Diego Pablo Simeone debuted 13 years ago as a coach. red and white and against a rival from a city closely linked to Jesús Gil, the charismatic former Colchonero president.
On January 7, 2012, ‘Cholo’ began to carve out his legend at the club with a 0-0 win in the Andalusian fiefdom, then against Málaga and in the League. Now, more than a decade later, their goal will be to advance without problems to the round of 16 of the Cup and maintain the pace with which they finished in 2024.
The colchoneros said goodbye to the year in style, with the lead in LaLiga EA Sports after achieving their twelfth consecutive victory in the visit to Barça. Winning the Marbella team would allow him to equal the record that the Argentine coach also achieved between August and October 2012 and to do so he will not carry out excessive experiments, knowing that in his case he will then have a week of ‘rest’ for not participating in the Super Cup. with possible ownership for Robin Le Normand, Antoine Griezmann, Julián Álvarez, Pablo Barrios or Rodrigo de Paul.
Already in his previous round against Cacereño, where he suffered more than expected especially due to lack of aim, Simeone put together a very competitive eleven and is expected to do the same, with the only certain absences of José María Giménez and Thomas Lemar to compete to a Marbella that is twelfth in its league group, where it could not beat the Colchonero reserve team (3-2).
SEVILLA AND BETIS CANNOT RELAX AGAINST ALMERÍA AND HUESCA
In addition, this Saturday Cup match will also bring the participation of two other champions such as Sevilla FC and Real Betis, who will have duels against two highly toned LaLiga Hypermotion teams, SD Huesca and UD Almería, respectively.
Of both crosses, the one that measures the Almería team, leader of the Second Division that has not lost in 14 games, and the Sevilla team, five-time winner of the title and that cannot allow an early elimination to start 2025, deserves special attention. For its part, Betis, triple champion, will visit a Huesca team that is undefeated in its last seven games and has only lost one match in El Alcoraz.
Finally, CA Osasuna, runners-up in 2023 against Real Madrid, will also try to avoid an early elimination against another Silver Division team like their bottom team, a CD Tenerife that has only won three games this campaign.
–SCHEDULE FOR THE DAY ON SATURDAY, 1/16 OF THE COPA DEL REY.
Huesca – Real Betis 15.30.
Tenerife – Osasuna 16.30.
Almeria – Seville 17.30.
Barbastro – Barcelona 19.00.
UD Logroñés – Athletic Club 21.30.
Marbella – Atlético de Madrid 21.30.