The Copa del Rey semifinal stage is set! And it will feature four Spanish top-flight outfits who all had compelling runs to get this far in the tournament.
The tale of the tape for the first leg indicates that Atletico Madrid will face off against Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés, while Mallorca will host Real Sociedad at Estadi Mallorca Son Moix.
The three-headed beast that is Atletico, Sociedad, and Bilbao all boast winning records in La Liga and are all sitting pretty in the upper echelon of the top flight table.
Meanwhile, Mallorca are currently in the bottom half of the top flight standings, but they’ve managed to pull off the biggest upset in the Copa del Rey this term!
It’ll be interesting to see how the underdog can fare against the Spanish giants in this stage of the tournament.
Atletico Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao
Altetico’s greatest hurdle came in the Round of 16, where they faced their neighboring rivals, Real Madrid. It was a thriller of a match and was probably the most primetime-worthy of matches in the tournament thus far.
It took late goals from Antione Griezmann and Rodrigo Riquelme to finally get past Los Blancos, and ultimately, it was Atletico who advanced to the quarterfinals thanks to a 4-2 victory over Real Madrid.
They breezed past Sevilla in the quarterfinals, dominating the game in possessions, passes, and number of shots. It was Memphis Depay who pulled the trigger for Atletico, scoring the only goal of the match and sending them to the semifinals.
They are awaited by the convincing outfit of Ernesto Valverde, who exposed the mighty Catalans in the quarterfinals by scoring four goals on Barcelona’s defence.
Barca, as usual, played the possession game, but was the kings of Basque who were more aggressive on the offencive side of the pitch, attempting a whopping 29 shots to Barcelona’s seven.
Bilbao’s thrashing became pivotal in Xavi’s decision to leave Camp Nou by the end of the season, and their loss to Villarreal in their next bout was the punctuation mark.
Now, two of the top-five outfits in the Spanish top flight will duke it out in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey. In my bold yet humble opinion, whoever wins this marquee matchup will be the favourites to win the entire tournament.
As the SBOTOP Copa del Rey 2024 odds suggest, the quarterfinal bout between Atletico and Bilbao will be an all-out brawl, with no team being priced as the heavy favourite.
Both outfits have had identical performances in the top flight, garnering a total of 10 points in their last five outings.
Fans should expect a high tally of goals as well, given that both sides feature some of the most lethal goal scorers in Spain. Álvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann will once again be Diego Simeone’s one-two punch, while Gorka Guruzeta and Iñaki Williams will be the tip of the spear and the hilt of the sword for Ernesto Valverde.
Expect goals; expect fireworks.
Mallorca vs Real Sociedad
Elsewhere, Real Sociedad maintain their status as one of the most consistent and viable clubs in Spain. The txuri-urdin are currently in the sixth spot in the La Liga table and are once again poised for European competition next term.
Also, out of all the outfits left competing in the Cope del Rey, Sociedad had the most dominant run of all.
They have just conceded just one goal in the entire tournament thus far, and that single goal they gave up was against Celta Vigo, who scored a goal in added time of their quarterfinal bout. The goal was ultimately insignificant to the outcome of the match.
To make things even sweeter for txuri-urdin, their maestro, Takefusa Kubo, will be available for their quarterfinal bout against Mallorca.
It will be a bittersweet return for Kubo, as the Samurai Blue suffered a stunning exit in the hands of their Asian rivals, Iran, in the AFC Asian Cup quarterfinals. But on the flip side, Kubo can now put all his focus back on his domestic club, an endeavor he welcomed and loved even before getting called up for international duties.
Now, Mikel Oyarzabal, Take Kubo, and Sociedad’s impenetrable defence will look to pick up where they left off when they face off against the striving Mallorca at Son Moix Stadium.
Mallorca, on the other hand, just pulled off the biggest upset in the Copa del Rey when they shocked the entire football world by beating the proven Girona in the quarterfinals.
Los Piratas headlined Copa del Rey 2024 news all over Spain after their herculean effort in defeating Girona. As we know, these domestic cups have been famous for their stunning upsets and Cinderella runs. But it’s always a delight to witness an underdog story unfold right before our very eyes.
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