Emirates News Agency – Real Madrid returns to its stadium with an exciting challenge with Atletico in the “Derby” of the Spanish Cup

Madrid, January 25, WAM/ Real Madrid, after losing to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final, achieved two very difficult and important victories at the expense of Villarreal and Athletic Bilbao, but the team’s performance was not very convincing.
Now, Real Madrid faces a new and very difficult challenge when it faces its neighbor Atletico tomorrow, Thursday, in the “derby” of the Spanish capital, Madrid, in the quarter-finals of the King’s Cup.
Real Madrid suffered a strong shock in the Spanish Super Final, losing to Barcelona 1-3 in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
With his return to Spain, the team narrowly defeated Villarreal 3-2 in the round of 16 of the Cup, then beat Bilbao 2-0 in the league, to maintain the three-point difference that separates it from leaders Barcelona.
Real Madrid did not present a convincing level in the two matches, as the performance was an extension of what the team had presented since the resumption of the football season in Spain at the end of last December after a long hiatus due to the 2022 World Cup.
But the team needs to perform much better in tomorrow’s match if it wants to overcome the obstacle of its neighbor Atletico, who recently regained its balance and also won the last two matches it played. Where he beat Levante 2-0 in the round of 16 of the Cup competition, then 3-0 against Valladolid in the local league.
Real Madrid is looking forward to overcoming Atletico’s hurdle tomorrow and continuing its search for its first title in the Cup competition, which it has not crowned since it won its 19th title in the competition in the 2013-2014 season.
During the previous eight seasons, Real Madrid failed even to reach the final of the Cup, as it was eliminated from the quarter-finals in 4 copies in these eight seasons, which seeks to avoid a recurrence in the face of Atletico tomorrow in the quarter-finals of the championship.
Since the resumption of the activities of the current season of the Spanish League after the end of the World Cup, Real Madrid has played 7 matches, but all of them were held outside its stadium, including the two matches against Valencia and Barcelona in the Super Cup in Riyadh.
The team will return to its stadium tomorrow at the “Santiago Bernabeu” stadium in the capital, Madrid, to be an additional incentive for the team in the face of Atletico, who seeks revenge on its neighbor, after losing to him 1-2 in their first match in the league this season last September.
Atletico is also looking forward to making an important step in the search for the title that it has been absent from in the last 9 seasons, as it won its last ten titles in the championship in the 2012-2013 season.