Marbella vs Atletico Madrid

Estadio La Rosaleda is the venue as Marbella and Atletico Madrid face each other in a ‘David vs Goliath’ Copa del Rey showdown.

Marbella squeezed past Bergantinos 2-1 in the first Copa del Rey round before toppling second-tier Burgos 1-0 to set up their first cup tie against Atletico Madrid since 2009/10. Driven by revenge, the hosts will be out to settle the account after a dismal 8-0 aggregate loss in their only previous Copa del Rey tie against this opposition. However, a four-game unbeaten run ahead of this encounter (W2, D2) failed to persuade bookmakers to give them a fighting chance. However, Fran Beltran’s men can find comfort in a decent-looking run of one defeat from their previous eight home matches (W4, D3), not so much in the fact they’ve conceded 2+ goals in two of the last three.

In the meantime, Atletico Madrid left it late to beat lower-league Vic 2-0 in the opening Copa del Rey round and had to overturn a halftime deficit to see off Cacereno last time out (3-1). However, those victories form part of the visitors’ intimidating 12-game winning streak in all competitions, bookended by a stunning 2-1 win at Barcelona in La Liga’s top-table six-pointer. Diego Simeone’s side finished last calendar year at the top of the league table, perhaps setting the groundwork for their first top-flight title since 2020/21. ‘Los Colchoneros’ take a short break from their league duties, looking to move a step closer to lifting their first Copa del Rey crown in over a decade!