Athletic Bilbao take on the visitors Espanyol in the round of 1/8-finals of Spanish Copa del Rey. The match will be played on Wednesday, January 18th at Estadio San Mames (Bilbao).
Athletic can make big gains this season. Basques are ambitious by default, but this is combined with loyalty to their traditions in selection. As a result, it is difficult to show something, and Marcelino was able to take the trophy anyway, in the form of the Spanish Super Cup. But after such a bright start, he could not develop further successes. No wonder the San Mames were tempted last summer by the chance to bring back Valverde. Ernesto had a great start, he moved his team to a place in the top 4 for a long pause. That's just in the winter there were only 0-0 with Betis and Osasuna. In most recent match Athletic lost 1-3 to direct competitor in the dispute for a place in the “Champions League zone”, Real Sociedad. This series without a win might affect the focus and determination of the team before the cup match.
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Espanyol fall short of expectations. The Parrots are not without ambitions. And, although they were forced to spend the season before last in the Segunda, they were not satisfied with only 14th place after returning to elite division of Spain. And they called Diego Martinez Penas, who was quite successful in Granada. But with him it turns out very rarely to win, which comes back to haunt, despite the small number of defeats. And only a long streak without defeats saves the coach from resignation. The more important were 2-1 in the previous LaLiga round, on the field of Getafe.
Athletic had a series of 5 head-to-head matches without defeat. But in September, due to the only goal of Brethwaite, Espanyol won at San Mames. Athletic are regarded as the clear favorite for the duel. But here both teams can win, so let's stop at "total over 2.5 goals".
Prediction for the match: Over 2.5 scored goals.
