The Copa del Rey quarter-final draw has produced a lot of intriguing matches between February 1 and 3, with Athletic Club’s encounter versus Real Madrid at San Mames being the cream of the bunch, as the two teams meet in a rematch of the Supercopa de Espana final.
However, because the quarter-finals clash with the World Cup qualifiers for South American countries, some clubs in the draw will feel cheated. In the quarter-finals, the one-legged ties from the previous rounds will stay in place.
David Villa, the World Cup, and European Championship winner, assisted in conducting the draw on Friday, with the quarter-final ties as follows: Athletic Club vs Real Madrid, Real Sociedad vs Real Betis, Valencia vs Cadiz, and Rayo Vallecano vs Real Mallorca.
Madrid and Betis Having Problems
Real Madrid will be missing its South American internationals for their quarter-final against Athletic due to fixture clashes with World Cup qualifiers following their 2-1 win over Elche in the Copa del Rey last 16.
Los Blancos will be without five players for the cup tie, while other teams are expected to be without several players as well. Real Betis, Rayo Vallecano, and Valencia have all had players called up to represent their countries.
Casemiro, Eder Militao, Rodrygo Goes, and Vinicius Junior will all play two games for Brazil’s national team. Fede Valverde has also been selected for the Uruguayan national squad. The players would return to Madrid on February 2, the same date that the Copa del Rey quarter-finals have been tentatively scheduled.
Betis will be without a handful of players for their match against Real Sociedad. Claudio Bravo (Chile), German Pezzella (Argentina), Guido Rodriguez (Argentina), Andres Guardado (Mexico), and Diego Lainez (Mexico) were all chosen for their respective countries.
Group of South Americans
First-placed Brazil will play Ecuador on January 27, followed by Paraguay five days later, in an attempt to finish first in their qualifying group.
Argentina is currently in second place, six points behind Brazil in the rankings. On January 27, they will face Chile, and on February 2, they will face Colombia, which has summoned up Rayo talisman Radamel Falcao. Without El Tigre, Rayo will have to rely on their other attacking alternatives to beat Real Mallorca.
No Other Alternatives
The clubs in LaLiga Santander have exhausted all options in an attempt to avoid this conclusion, but they have been unsuccessful. One option has been to work with national teams to try to persuade their players to return to their clubs after only playing in the first game, thereby avoiding the Copa del Rey clash.
The president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, is claimed to have comprehended the clubs’ objections, but he claims that a solution that pleases all parties has not been found.
Read: Copa del Rey 2022: Athletic Bilbao set up a rematch with Real Madrid after eliminating Barca
