By Fernando Kallas
MADRID (Reuters) – Real Madrid will be eager to bury memories of one of their most embarrassing defeats in recent years when they face third-tier Alcoyano for the second year running in the last 32 of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.
Twelve months after being humiliated 2-1 by the low-budget team that hails from a small town close to Alicante, Real will return to the El Collao stadium for a re-match that will take place in front of a full house of 4,850 fans. Last year fans were barred from witnessing Alcoyano’s giant-killing victory due to the restrictions that were in place to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“If we did it once, we can do it again,” Alcoyano captain Juli Cerda told a news conference.
“We know that we will see a Real with hurt feelings and there will be no surprise factor like last year. They probably did learn their lesson but this time we will have our fans and they will face a completely different environment.”
Coach Carlo Ancelotti’s final line-up has yet to be decided after he confirmed Vinicius Jr, Ferland Mendy, Thibaut Courtois, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema will not make the trip down south.
Champions Barcelona will travel to Andalucia to face another third-tier team, Linares Deportivo.
Xavi Hernandez’s team beat Mallorca 1-0 on Sunday despite missing 14 players due to COVID-19, injuries and suspensions — and he will once again have to rely on a depleted squad to keep alive their title defence.
Xavi had hoped Pedri would be able to make his comeback following a long injury layoff but those plans have had to be put on ice after the 19-year-old midfielder tested positive for COVID-19.
He is the 14th Barcelona player to test positive in recent days.
“It’s a complicated task to go at a small stadium, in a single game elimination match,” Xavi told a press conference. “Every year we see first-tier teams being eliminated. We have to be careful. We are the champions and want to repeat.”
On Thursday, Atletico will face third-tier neighbours Rayo Majadahonda in their own 68,000-capacity Wanda Metropolitano stadium even though they had been drawn to play away.
However, Majadahonda asked the Spanish Federation to switch the game to a bigger arena as they usually host their matches at Atletico’s training facilities, which has a capacity of around 3,500.
Current Spanish regulations state that venues with over 5,000 capacity can be only 75% full in order to control the spread of COVID-19.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
