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Vinicius, Casemiro, Militao, Rodrygo and Valverde could not play in San Mamés on February 3 as they coincide with World Cup matches in South America
Athletic and Real Madrid will face each other on Thursday, February 3 in San Mamés (9:30 p.m.) in a stellar tie for the Cup quarterfinals that arrives peppered with controversy for coinciding with matches between South American teams, which would prevent Vinicius, Casemiro, Militao, Rodrygo and Valverde play at La Catedral. Also affected by the ‘FIFA virus’, Betis would lose five other internationals for the Anoeta clash against Real Sociedad, champion of the 2020 Cup and executioner of Atlético in the round of 16.
After qualifying on Thursday night in two extensions, Athletic against Barça and Madrid against Elche at the Martínez Valero, San Mamés will once again host a cup match for the greats, between the runner-up of the last two editions and the current leader of the league. Athletic will try to take revenge for the Spanish Super Cup lost in Saudi Arabia (0-2), in which it will be the fourth confrontation between the two teams in just two months, after Madrid also won the League, by 1 -0 at the Bernabéu (December 1) and 1-2 at San Mamés (December 22).
Almost three weeks after the Super Cup final, the teams that, after Barça, hold the most Cup titles (Athletic 23 and Madrid 19), will face each other for the first time since 2006, 16 years ago, in a tie of the KO tournament, this time not round trip, but a single match. With Marcelino’s team morally reinforced after their magnificent victory against Barcelona and Carlo Ancelotti’s, who pulled epic and came back with one less against Elche, diminished in San Mamés due to the absence of three undisputed starters, in defense (Militao) , the midfield (Casemiro) and the forward (Vinicius). “The calendar is nonsense. It has to change. Those who do it must wake up, ”Ancelotti claimed on Thursday night, before knowing that Real Madrid would have to play the pass to the Cup semifinals against Athletic.
Real Madrid, like Betis, requested the postponement of their Cup quarter-final match before the draw. However, the request was denied by the Spanish Football Federation (FEF), so that, with the Uruguayan Valverde, Given up for lost and awaiting negotiation with the Brazilian Confederation so that his four Brazilian internationals could be released by Canarinha, already qualified for the World Cup, he began to assume that he will not be able to count on Vinicius, Casemiro, Militao and Rodrygo. Betis will also be left without Claudio Bravo, Pezzella, Guido Rodríguez, Guardado and Lainez to face Real on February 3, which also caused complaints from Manuel Pellegrini before the draw.
Cup quarterfinals:
-Athletic-Real Madrid. Thursday February 3. 9:30 p.m. (Mediaset).
-Real Sociedad-Betis. Thursday February 3. 8:00 p.m. (DAZN).
-Valencia-Cadiz. Wednesday February 2. 9:00 p.m. (Mediaset).
-Rayo Vallecano-Majorca. Wednesday February 2. 8:00 p.m. (DAZN).
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