Atlético de Madrid and Club Deportivo Atlético Baleares will meet for the first time ever on Wednesday night, when both sides will try to advance to the round of 16 in the Copa del Rey.
This match at 6,000-seat
Estadio Balear on Mallorca will mark Atlético Madrid’s entry into the King’s Cup, where the Rojiblancos’ goal this year is to reach the final after successive semifinal exits in 2024 and 2025. Atleti have neither reached the final nor won La Copa since 2013, and Diego Simeone stressed the importance of taking this opening round seriously in Tuesday’s press conference.
That’s because Atlético Baleares have already faced — and taken down — one Primera side during its cup run. The Segunda B side knocked out Espanyol two weeks ago, battling to a 1-0 win over Manolo González’s men (who sit fifth in LaLiga) and making the most out of its single shot on target.
In its history, Atlético Baleares have played a combined four seasons in the second division, and the club has spent much of its 105-year existence playing in the third tier of Spanish football. Four years ago, the Palma-based side reached the Copa del Rey’s last 16, two seasons before suffering relegation to the fourth tier.
Team news
Over the past two days at training, it has become clear that Simeone is going to rotate heavily for this island trip before Atlético face Girona at the weekend in the final LaLiga match of the calendar year.
Juan Musso will return to the sticks after featuring twice last month while Jan Oblak was injured, while Javi Galán is in line to start and receive his first minutes in more than two months. Carlos Martín is expected to start as well, having featured for a grand total of one minute since his proposed loan to Getafe fell apart late in the summer.
Johnny Cardoso and Conor Gallagher will replace regular midfield pair Koke and Pablo Barrios, and Thiago Almada is set for a rare start as well. Speaking of rare starts: Antoine Griezmann is set for only his third appearance in the initial lineup since the October international break, and Giacomo Raspadori — who is increasingly likely to leave Atlético next month — is poised for only his fourth start all season.
Possible 11 Musso; Molina, Le Normand, Lenglet, Galán; Johnny, Gallagher, Carlos Martín, Almada; Raspadori, Griezmann.
