Sadar dreams of reaching the second cup final in rojillo history against an Athletic who are in the penultimate round for the fourth consecutive season
Osasuna dreams big. Everything is luck in football Pamplona, with the best campaign remembered in El Sadar since that magic course 2005-06. With Vasco Aguirre at the wheel of the bench, the Navarrese team then achieved a spectacular fourth place in the league and the passport to the previous round of the Champions League. In the run-up to the big league on the old continent, they lost to the mighty Hamburg of the time, before reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in the latest rojilla continental adventure, which they are now aiming for again, to a single point of the European places in the League.
Nearly two decades have passed since that milestone, which came the year after another achievement, an unprecedented achievement in the club’s history. The final of the Copa del Rey against Betis in the Vicente Calderón in June 2005 shines with its own light among Osasuna’s best moments in more than a century of history. Now, after 18 years of waiting with up to two stages in Second, he dreams of playing for the title on May 6 in La Cartuja.
To do this, they will have to overcome one last obstacle, this Athletic who has regained its classic idyll with the Copa del Rey, the trophy of which he was the record winner for many years. As Osasuna heads into the sixth semifinal in its history on a cloud, the Lions have become a fixture as they head into the final, a noble round of the KO tournament they reach for the fourth consecutive season. Modern Athletic have collected finals but have been devoid of trophies since 1984 when they won the title on that night marked by the battle between Maradona’s Barça and the rojiblancos players.
Athletic’s rich history and the tie’s resolution under the patronage of San Mamés fans in the middle of Maundy Thursday give the Bilbao team a certain favorite mark, although the rankings dictate otherwise. Ranked eighth, with 33 points, one more than its rival in the Cup semi-finals, Osasuna continues to grow in its fifth campaign with Jagoba Arrasate as coach. A promotion and three more than solvent stays in First Division speak clearly about the stability of a project with very recognizable guidelines.
The team from Pamplona will reach its great evening this Wednesday full of morals after the victory in the Sánchez Pizjuán against Sevilla, victim of the rojillos also in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey. Before that, they lost to the Navarrese in the tournament Fuentes, Arnedo, Gimástic de Tarragona and the current champion, Betis.
“It is here and now. We are prepared, the mood is good,” Arrasate analyzed during the pre-match press conference. His words perfectly sum up the confidence in the Osasunista environment. The coach from Biscay only regrets the loss of right back Rubén Peña. “It’s what the coach wants, to have all the pieces to complete the puzzle later,” said the rojillo coach, who is expected to reinstate substitute players against Sevilla for his starting line-up, such as the Cup goalkeeper, Sergio Herrera, the defender Unai García , the midfielders Lucas Torró and Moi Gómez or the forwards Chimy Ávila and Abde.
The situation is very different for his Athletic counterpart, Ernesto Valverde, who has been bemoaning a wide range of absences and doubts after two successive League defeats. They will not be in El Sadar Nico Williams, fundamental to his huge wing imbalance, and Jon Morcillo. But it is also that the goalkeeper Unai Simón, the central defenders Iñigo Martínez and Yeray Álvarez, the midfielder Ander Herrera and Raúl García, who has lost prominence this season but is always a guarantee in this type of competition due to his strong character on the pitch .
So, practically with what he was wearing, the ‘Txingurri’ wavers between reinforcing the rojiblanca midfield with the presence of Dani García along with Vesga and Sancet or, on the other hand, giving captain Muniain the handle in the hitch where he can be decisive for his ability to find the last pass.
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.
