Copa del Rey | Round of 16

Jan 15, 2025 at 8.30pm UK

Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero

Elche vs Atletico

Match preview

Elche may be the obvious underdogs in Wednesday's tie, but they will be fancying their chances of pulling off an upset after winning each of their last four competitive matches without conceding a goal.

That run includes an emphatic 4-0 win over Las Palmas in the third round of the Copa del Rey, thanks to goals from Rodrigo Mendoza, David Affengruber, Jose Salinas and Nicolas Fernandez.

Los Franjiverdes followed that up with another victory over Real Zaragoza on Sunday, Elbasan Rashani scoring in the 93rd minute to move his side into the automatic promotion places.

The narrow victory means Elche have now avoided defeat in each of their last 10 competitive matches (W7, D3), keeping a clean sheet in seven of them.

Wednesday's hosts can also take confidence from the fact that they have won nine of their last 12 home games (D2, L1), including each of their last five at the Estadio Martinez Valero.

Los Franjiverdes will be hoping home advantage can help them reach the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey for the first time since 1968-69, when they reached the final before being beaten by Athletic Club.

Like their hosts, Atleti go into the midweek tie in high spirits, having won each of their last 14 competitive matches since losing to Real Betis at the end of October.

Atletico began this run with a 2-0 win over Vic before beating Cacereno 3-1 in the second round of the competition in December to set up their latest cup clash with Marbella.

Diego Simeone's side were unable to overhaul their third-tier opponents and had to settle for a narrow 1-0 victory thanks to Antoine Griezmann's 16th-minute strike.

Atletico followed that up with another 1-0 win at home on Saturday, with Julian Alvarez scoring the decisive goal to propel his side to the top of the table, a point above second-placed Real Madrid and six points clear of Barcelona in third.

As well as dreaming of a 12th La Liga title, Atletico will also be hoping to lift the Copa del Rey for the first time since 2012-13.

They will be confident of reaching the quarter-finals for the third successive season, having won 10 of their last 12 meetings with Elche (D1, L1), although they will be mindful of the 1-0 defeat they suffered in their last meeting in May 2023.

Recent Performance

Elche Copa del Rey form:WWW

Elche form (all competitions):WDWWWW

Atletico Madrid Copa del Rey form:WWW

Atletico Madrid form (all competitions):WWWWWW

Team News

Elche coach Eder Sarabia may be without the services of striker Oscar Plano, who has missed the last three games with a muscle injury.

Pedro Bigas could retain his place in the starting line-up after partnering Affengruber in central defence in Sunday's win over Zaragoza.

Mendoza and Agustin Alvarez are pushing for recalls after being dropped to the Elche bench at the weekend.

The visitors will be without the services of defender Jose Maria Gimenez, who continues to work his way back from an injury that kept him out of the first two matches of 2025.

Juan Musso will start between the sticks after starting the first three rounds of the competition, while Simeone could be tempted to make further changes to keep his side fresh in the face of a busy schedule.

The Atleti coach could hand starting opportunities to the likes of Alex Witsel, Koke, Marcos Llorente, Samuel Lino, Angel Correa and Alexander Sorloth.

Possible starting lineup

Elche possible starting lineup:

San Roman; A. Nunez, Affengruber, Bigas, Salinas; Febas, Castro; Fernandez; Mendoza, Santiago; Alvarez

Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:

Musso; Molina, Witsel, Le Normand, Galan; Llorente, Barrios, Koke, Lino; Sorloth, Correa