Real Madrid-FC Barcelona and Osasuna-Athletic, semifinals of the Copa del Rey football

LAS ROZAS (MADRID), 30 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS TELEVISION) –

The duels between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona and between CA Osasuna and Athletic Club will star in the semifinals of the 2022-2023 edition of the Copa del Rey, according to the draw held this Monday at the Ciudad del Fútbol in Las Rozas (Madrid).

In this way, there will be a Clásico between the Real Madrid team and the Catalans, very important for both since one of the two will be left without aspiring to win another title this season, while a door opens for the ‘rojillos’ and the ‘leones’ to reach a cup final in an always attractive northern rivalry match.

The format of this penultimate round of the ‘ko’ competition is a double game, so the Santiago Bernabéu and El Sadar will host the first legs, and the Spotify Camp Nou and San Mamés, the second legs. Due to Real Madrid’s participation in the Club World Cup, the first games cannot be played next week as planned, but will be played on February 28, March 1 or 2, when the second rounds were scheduled, which now they will be moved to April on the 4th, 5th or 6th. The final will be on May 6th at the La Cartuja Stadium in Seville.

The ‘innocent hand’ of the national coach Luis de la Fuente was the one who was in charge of pairing Real Madrid and FC Barcelona again four years later in the Copa del Rey. In the 2018-2019 season, both also met in the semifinals, with a pass for the Catalan team, which came back from 1-1 in the first leg with a devastating 0-3 in the second leg in the capital. In total, it will be the eighth semifinals between the two, with a 4-3 balance for the meringues.

This maximum intensity clash will bring them together again after having already shared a win each in the two Clásicos held, 3-1 for Carlo Ancelotti’s men in LaLiga Santander, and also 3-1 for Xavi Hernández’s men, with the extra prize of the Spanish Super Cup title.

The 14-time European champion, who has not reached the cup final since winning his last title in 2014, will see how the calendar hardens again and does not give him any respite since the first leg will arrive just a week before the one in round of 16 of the Champions League against English Liverpool and after a derby at the Bernabéu against Atlético, while days after this first cup match he will have to visit Betis.

In the case of FC Barcelona, ​​the most rivalry match will also come at an important moment of the season as it will visit the Madrid fiefdom the week after closing its first Europa League tie against Manchester United, although its calendar seems a bit more ‘gentle’.

The return of this crossing will be a week before their hypothetical quarterfinals of their respective European competitions and after having already seen their faces at the Spotify Camp Nou in the second League Classic (March 18-19), a match that can further mark the needs of both.

ELIMINATORY OF MAXIMUM NORTEÑA RIVALRY BETWEEN ATHLETIC AND OSASUNA

The other semifinal is also very close between Athletic Club and CA Osasuna, with the theoretical advantage for the Biscayan team of having the second leg in San Mamés, where this season they already tied without goals.

The two teams managed to prevent chance from placing them against Barça or Real Madrid and increase their hopes of being able to play a Cup final, which would be the second for Jagoba Arrasate’s men after the loss against Betis in 2005, and the fortieth for those of Ernesto Valverde.

Both also currently have a good qualifying situation, with Athletic with the ambition to play in European competition and with Osasuna with their permanence quite well on track, so it seems that they will bet heavily on overcoming this semifinal, which will be the fourth time, the first in the penultimate round, that they meet in the ko tournament, all of them so far with victory for the Bilbao team.

IMAGES AVAILABLE ON EUROPE PRESS TELEVISION

DOWNLOAD URL:

https://www.europapress.tv/deportes/735850/1/real-madrid-fc-…

CONTACT TELEPHONE 91 345 44 06