Single match will decide who will advance to the semifinals
After the confrontation for the Supercopa de España on January 16, Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao will meet again this Thursday, at 17:30 (Brasília time), at the San Manés stadium, for the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey. The game is a single match and is worth a spot for the semi-final of the competition. In the previous duel, the Merengues won the victory over the Basque team and won the title.
Having the ball under control is far from being the priority of the home team. The team led by Marcelino Garcia Total prefers to let the rival exchange passes, keeps the lines low and when it recovers the ball, it seeks to quickly define the bids. The average possession of the ball in LaLiga is 48%. The twelfth of the tournament.
The team generated 259 shots in that time. It is in seventh place in this regard in the Spanish Championship. Need 12.3 shots to swing the net. The hopes of success are pinned on the defensive system, leaked just 17 times in 22 LaLiga games. In goal, Unai Simón, is the starter of the Spanish national team. The reserve is Julen Agirrezabla, who together made 106 saves in the tournament, an average of 4.8 per game.
Real Madrid use patience as a weapon to break through closed defensive systems. The ball possession average of 58.83% is the third highest in LaLiga. It is behind only Barcelona (60.29%) and Villarreal (58.95%). However, it surpasses both in exchange of passes. There were 11,975 in 22 games. Average of 544 per match, with 94.3% correct. The best efficiency index in the Spanish Championship.
This allowed the meringues to produce 372 opportunities for submission. Real Madrid has, by far, the best attack in the competition. There were 70 more shots than Betis, who were second in this regard, in the same number of games. Average of 16.9 shots per match. To make the opponent’s net swing, the Merengues need 7.9 shots. Defensively, they conceded 20 goals in 22 games. His archers made 84 saves in LaLiga, an average of 3.8 per game.
