Barcelona and Atlético want to gain strength in the Cup before meeting in the League

Linares-Sevilla, UD Logroñés-Real Sociedad, Pontevedra-Mallorca and Alavés-Real Valladolid, other crosses on Wednesday of the round of 16

MADRID, 3 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid, who will meet in LaLiga Santander next Sunday, will seek this Wednesday their obligatory pass to the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey in their duels against FC Intercity, a team from the First RFEF, against Real Oviedo from LaLiga SmartBank at the Carlos Tartiere, while other contenders such as Real Sociedad and Sevilla visit UD Logroñés and Linares.

The José Rico Pérez will be the scene (9:00 p.m.) of the first cupbearer of the 'king' of the competition, FC Barcelona, ​​which after being exempt from participating in the previous rounds due to its participation in the Spanish Super Cup will begin its journey against CF Intercity against whom he hopes to recover from the setback against Espanyol.

After seeing off 2022 with a draw (1-1) in the derby last Saturday, which allowed Real Madrid to equalize them on points at the top of the LaLiga Santander table, Xavi Hernández's team wants a pass to the round of 16 with authority and without scares against a rival from the lower part of his group from the First RFEF to arrive more encouraged at the weekend's visit to the Cívitas Metropolitano.

Despite this, the Terrassa coach travels to Alicante with almost all his 'first swords' except the Polish striker Robert Lewandowski and the midfielder Pedri, although with the idea of ​​rotating and taking advantage of the game to give minutes to key players who need it like the Uruguayan central defender Ronald Araújo.

The Dutch striker Memphis Depay may also have a good opportunity to show his worth to a Xavi who wants to count on him, while the young Pablo Torre will also be part of a renewed eleven and where there will be no presence of youth squads from the subsidiary.

Precisely, Barça 'B' can give you an idea of ​​what awaits you since they share Group 2 of the First RFEF with a CF Intercity, who will try to give the big bell and leave out of the Copa del Rey the most laureate with 31 trophies. In that championship, Rafa Márquez's team drew 0-0 against a team from Alicante, which knocked out Mirandés from LaLiga SmartBank in the previous round.

So, he did it at his Estadio Antonio Solana, while now he will have more encouragement from his fans by moving to a José Rico Pérez where Barça can find something more 'comfortable' in a game where they will most likely have almost total control against Gustavo Siviero's men, who have not played since December 17 and who are in the relegation zone.

For their part, Atlético de Madrid will have to face off against Real Oviedo at the Carlos Tartiere (8:00 p.m.), in the second cup game for Diego Pablo Simeone's men, after the hard-fought victory against the modest Arenteiro that should serve them well. warning in a scenario of bad memory for the mattress club.

And it is that in this stadium Atlético de Madrid consummated its relegation to the Second Division in the 1999-2000 campaign and now it returns to play there in an official match more than two decades later since it won 2-3 in 2002 when it visited the 'carbayones' in search of promotion to First Division, one of their few victories in that fiefdom.

A Cup that has not been very good in recent years represents for Atlético practically its last hope of winning a title this season and therefore there will be no room for relaxation, although the duel against FC Barcelona at the weekend may score his eleven. For the moment, those of 'Cholo' closed 2022 well by beating Elche and now they hope to finally get the desired regularity in 2023.

For their part, Oviedo, who have reached the round of 32 cupbearers after knocking out Granada (1-0) and Gimnástica de Torrelavega (2-3), want to give 'war' to a rival and play a match against them 'long', although his coach, Álvaro Cervera, has already warned in the preview that he is more concerned about the domestic championship.

The Oviedo team is showing itself to be much more solid in its stadium in LaLiga SmartBank, where it has taken 17 of its 21 points. Cervera has formed a very solid block at the defensive level, with only 15 goals conceded, but that is weak at the top and is the worst attack, with 13 goals, in the Second Division along with Racing.

Cupbearer Wednesday will also feature the participation of three other teams from LaLiga Santander, Sevilla, Real Sociedad and Mallorca, all of them tournament champions and who will face rivals from the First RFEF.

The Seville team hopes that the Cup will bring them better news than the domestic championship where they are still in serious trouble, although they will have to save a derby (19.00) against a Linares Deportivo team that last year pushed FC Barcelona to the limit.

Jorge Sampaoli's team, five times champion, arrives at the duel with sporting restlessness after saying goodbye to 2022 with a draw in Balaídos and continuing in the relegation places to LaLiga SmartBank. The best news for the Argentine is that he will be able to count on more members of the first team since he recovers Montiel, Rakitic and Nianzou, sanctioned for the visit to Celta, while he will not be able to have striker Rafa Mir, 'touched' in the hamstrings.

For its part, Linares Deportivo wants to take advantage of the doubts that beset Sevilla to surprise them and get into the round of 16 and aspire to another 'big'. Last year, FC Barcelona suffered the unspeakable (1-2) to leave out the team from Jaén, sixth in Group 1 of the First RFEF, which has not been able to win its last six league games.

For its part, Real Sociedad, champion of the Copa del Rey in 2020, wants to continue with its great season and shine again in a competition that arouses great enthusiasm in the ranks of Imanol Alguacil's men.

The team from San Sebastián, third in LaLiga Santander, will visit Las Gaunas (20.00) against UD Logroñés, in relegation places in the First RFEF, in a northern derby where they expect more resistance than in their two previous visits to the modest Cazalegas and Coria and that it can be a good option to see more minutes to Mikel Oyarzabal.

Mallorca, who saw their good league moment slowed down in Getafe, will try to return to the path of victory in their visit to another team with urgent needs in the First RFEF such as Pontevedra, while on Wednesday it will be completed with the duel in Mendizorrotza between the Deportivo Alavés and Valladolid.

Linares Deportivo - Seville. Mateu Lahoz (C. Valencian) 19.00.

UD Logrones - Real Sociedad. González Fuertes (C. Asturiano) 19.00.

Pontevedra CF - CD Mallorca. Del Cerro Grande (C. Madrid) 19.00.

Oviedo - Atletico Madrid. Muñiz Ruiz (C. Gallego) 20.00.

CF Intercity - FC Barcelona. Pizarro Gómez (C. Madrid) 21.00.

Deportivo Alaves - Valladolid. Ortiz Arias (C. Madrid) 21.00.