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Aron Wright - January 27, 2020
Tenerife vs Athletic Bilbao
Spain – Copa del Rey
Date: Tuesday, 28 January 2020
Kick-off at 20:00 UK/ 21:00 CET
Venue: Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López (Santa Cruz de Tenerife).
Athletic Bilbao, one of the top-performing teams in the Spanish top flight, are the favorites to record the win this Tuesday, against the 18th placed Tenerife from the second division.
The new format of the Copa del Rey have been providing some early upsets, and thrilling matches. Some of the best teams in Spain – the likes of Atleti are already out of the competition, and these have been done by teams from the lower divisions.
The one-off games till the semis, and home advantage for the minnows have levelled the playing ground a lot. By no means will Bilbao be allowed to take this game lightly.
However, the fate of Diego Simeone’s Atleti have given a fair warning to the rest of the top-tier teams, and this should help them avoid any mishaps.
Tenerife were at home the previous round, and they had taken on Valladolid. The closely-contested game saw the hosts record a 2-1 win, with the winner coming via a penalty in the 86th minute.
Meanwhile, Bilbao were on the road, and they had to take the harder route of penalties in order to overcome Elche, and get to the Round of 16.
In terms of result this match-day, Bilbao seem to the be stronger side. Obviously they are part of the La Liga, arguably the best league in Europe, and are a major presence there as well.
To quote a stat, the Basque outfit had begun their season with a win over the mighty Barcelona.
On the other hand, Tenerife are placed in the Segunda, and even there, they are hanging by a thread over the relegation line.
On the same note, with the season entering its latter phase, Tenerife have not much time to get distracted in other competitions, as their prime objective remain to avoid relegation. Keep note that the last eight teams in the Segunda table are separated by just eight points.
Moreover, Bilbao will already be careful regarding their approach for this game, as they have seen what happened to some high-profile teams in the Copa, who thought they could have comfortable wins against minnows.
In addition, Tenerife were winless in 15 of their last 20 overall fixtures, and were so in nine of their former twelve in front of the home crowd.
On the contrary, Bilbao are invincible in their prior eight match-ups on the trot, and were so in 14 of their previous 15. On the road, they are on a run of six unbeaten games, and remained so in 15 of their past 18 trips away from home.
Going on, only once have Tenerife kept a clean sheet in the last 22 years against this opponent, and only twice have they won in the same period. Also, at this stadium, Bilbao hold a 100% winning record in h2h clashes, barring just one such encounter.
Taking all these factors into account, it’s adjudged that Athletic Bilbao are on course to record a hard-fought but convincing win this Tuesday.
