After the championship dispute, some teams in the League could be affected by key absences in a golden opportunity for the humblest
The second round of the Copa del Rey starts next Tuesday, just two days after the World Cup final in Qatar, a situation that will inevitably affect a number of teams with international footballers. The cup matches are played on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and always on the field of the lower category. The four participants in the Spanish Super Cup in January, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Betis, will continue without playing in the Cup and join the hype from the third round. There are 56 teams competing this week for 28 of the 32 spots for the draw this Friday.
This second round of the cup arrives, immersed in the hangover of the World Cup in Qatar, which will directly affect a number of teams in the competition. Among the hardest hit are Atlético de Madrid and Sevilla. The mattress team will take on one of the cup surprises on Wednesday, Arenteiro, who just knocked out Almería in the first round of the competition, and do so without Griezmann, Correa, De Paul and Molina, who played the World Cup final. , and Ivo Grbic, who was present at the consolation final. Simeone has recovered some important pieces, such as Joao Félix, Morata or Carrasco, who fell days ago in Qatar and are already back at work with the rojiblancos. Even Simeone himself was also present at the Lusail stadium in Qatar.
Another team that will suffer the consequences of the World Cup is Sevilla. The Sevillans play against Juventud Torremolinos, who eliminated Huesca from the Second Division, and they do without the champions Montiel, Acuña and Papu Gómez, nor the Moroccans Bono and En-Nesyri, important pieces for Jorge Sampaoli, who do not have an abundant team far from that.
The absence of the World Cup, together with the illusion of the most humble, can bring great surprises, as we have seen since the cup format changed to a single match and in the field of the inferior rival. Special attention to another ‘giant-killer’ like Real Unión, a historic player who beat Cádiz in the last round to face Javier Aguirre’s Mallorca.
The hour of modesty
The magical component of this single-match Copa del Rey multiplies as you play, almost immediately and without a break, after the event that brings together the best footballers in the world and which can inevitably take the teams with the highest rankings out of the limelight, entity for sets of non-professional divisions that will arrive full of illusion and hope in the face of a unique opportunity.
Without going any further, four teams from the highest category of Spanish football fell to these Cinderellas in the same cup match last season. Alavés lost to Linares 2-1, Levante lost to Alcoyano on penalties, Granada succumbed to Mancha Real 1-0 and Getafe were shockingly beaten 5-0 by Atlético Baleares. Given the context in which some teams arrive and the closest precedents, it’s not risky to predict that there will be surprises.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
