Copa final: triumph for the favorite or sensation for the underdog?

preliminary reportReal Madrid and CA Osasuna face off in the Copa del Rey final. While Los Blancos are aiming to win the competition for the 20th time, the northern Spaniards are dreaming of their first triumph in club history. Against this background, the role of favorites in the final in Seville is clearly divided: will the favorite from the capital prevail or will the Pamploneses cause a sensation? All information about the final of the Spanish Cup (Saturday, 10 p.m.).

the initial situation

• Real Madrid have been waiting for this for so long! Nine years to be exact: Los Blancos are finally back in the Copa del Rey final. Blancos want to win their 20th Spanish Cup against CA Osasuna at the Estadio La Cartuja, Seville’s Olympic Stadium (10 p.m., im REAL TOTAL-Live ticker and TV), after the Merengues last triumphed in 2014 in Valencia’s Mestalla against FC Barcelona. Coach Carlo Ancelotti and his team have the title within reach. The Italian already led the Spanish record champions to the Copa del Rey in the said win over Barça – and this time he should do it again. The Madrilenians have been in the final of the Spanish Cup a whopping 41 times. In the finals of the Copa del Rey, however, the royals have an expandable record. Since only 19 were won, this corresponds to a win rate of just 46 percent. In other words, Real Madrid have lost more Copa del Rey finals than they have won. Incidentally, the record final participant and winner is FC Barcelona with 45 final appearances and 31 triumphs. Meanwhile, between Barça and Real is the Athletic Club: the traditional club from Bilbao has played in 41 finals and won 24 times. Nevertheless, Los Blancos can draw hope: of their last 19 finals in all cup competitions – starting in the 2014 Copa del Rey – they have triumphed in 17. The only defeats were in 2018 in the UEFA Super Cup against Atlético and in 2023 in the Supercopa against FC Barcelona.

The opponent

• Real Madrid are the clear favorites going into the Seville final. Not least because of the history. Because CA Osasuna will only play the second final in the Copa del Rey in their almost 103-year club history. The traditional club from Pamplona was in the final for the first and last time in 2005. At that time, the now demolished Estadio Vicente Calderón in Madrid, once the home ground of Atlético, served as the venue. The opponent was Real Betis. And the Sevillians won there too – but only after extra time. But in the current season, Osasuna has so far turned out to be an extension expert. On the way to the final, the “Rojillos” had to play more than 90 minutes four times: in the round of 16 against Nàstic, in the round of 16 against Betis, in the quarterfinals against Sevilla FC and in the semifinals against Athletic Club. No wonder that coaches Jagoba Arrasate and David García announced at the press conference that one approach against Real Madrid should be: hold the zero for a long time and then hope for chances. They wouldn’t have anything against extra time or even a penalty shoot-out – because they are aware of their role as outsiders. Mind you, the northern Spaniards last won against Real in January 2011. Then it was in 18 games: 13 times win for the Madrilenians, only five draws. And the gap between the two teams is also clearly noticeable in the current LaLiga season: Real Madrid, third in the table, has a 24-point lead over tenth-placed Osasuna. But they lost their dress rehearsals: the Madrilenians 0:2 at Real Sociedad, Osasuna 0:1 at FC Barcelona. From the point of view of the protagonists from Pamplona, ​​meanwhile, gratifying: IAlmost all the players of the first team are in the squad for the final with one exception. The 31-year-old SerbDarko Brašanachas been absent since April due to a cruciate ligament rupture, but is not part of the permanent staff anyway.

Estimated starting XI: Herrera – Moncayola, Aidane, David García, Juan Cruz – Moi Gómez, Lucas Torró, Aimar Oroz – Rubén García, Chimy Ávila, Kike Barja.

Personnel and prospective line-up

• And Real Madrid also has reason to be happy in terms of personnel: All professionals traveled to Seville and are therefore also in the squad for the final. Consequently, there are two surprises: Luka Modric is fit again, himself Ferland Mendy travels with While Modrić could return to the starting XI after recovering from muscle fatigue, Mendy is likely to feature. The Frenchman is training after his injury suffered at the end of Marchsoleus injurynow individually again and could only really report back against Manchester City (Tuesday, 9 p.m.). There are even six comebacks in the squad: Vinícius Junior and Eduardo Camavinga missing on tuesday blocked Karim Benzema was spared, but david praises is fit again. Important: Played in San Sebastián on Tuesday Éder Militão with pain and also Federico Valverde hasn’t always been able to train with the team lately, but both have worked with the team lately and are available. So Ancelotti is once again spoiled for choice!

• Not there: –

The voices of the game

Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid Head Coach): “Playing a final is always very exciting. Personally, before a final, I always think it could be the last. That’s what I thought in 2003 and it wasn’t the last, and I think the same thing today. It could be the last one, we have to enjoy it and I ask the players to do the same. These are very special games and we prepare them with full motivation. We are happy to have made it this far and we deserve to be here.”

Daniel Carvajal (Real Madrid right-back): “Nine years ago I won my first title with the Copa del Rey, I remember it particularly fondly. We all really wanted to be in the final again, so we’re taking it easy and knowing that it’s going to be very, very demanding. We’ll try to do what brought us here to win the Copa.”

» Join the discussion now in the REAL TOTAL community

Jagoba Arrasate (Cheftrainer CA Osasuna): „We have a team that is a family. We’ve played against Real Madrid many times and haven’t made it (to win; editor’s note) , but we have some clues on how to deal with them. It will be very important to make Real Madrid uncomfortable. We had four overtimes on our way to the final and we wouldn’t mind playing another one or even going to the penalty shootout.“

David García (Kapitän CA Osasuna): „Statistics are there to be broken. Let’s hope we break them tomorrow. We know how difficult it is because of the last 19They have won 17 finals. But we don’t focus on what they did, we focus on what we can do.”

Statistics and special

• TOTAL BALANCE: Real Madrid and CA Osasuna have faced each other in 86 competitive games to date. The balance is clearly for the Madrilenians, who have won 54 times so far. The northern Spaniards only won 13 times. And 19 duels ended in a draw. Goal balance: 186 to 80 from the point of view of the Spanish record champions. The two LaLiga games this season, meanwhile, ended 2-0 for Real Madrid and 1-1.

• RECORDS IN SIGHT: In the event that Real Madrid triumphs over Osasuna, would Karim Benzema win his 25th title with Los Blancos. The Frenchman would therefore be together with ex-captain Marcelo the Blanco with the most titles in the club’s history. For Ancelotti it would be the tenth title as Real coach, only Zinédine Zidane (11) and Miguel Muñoz (14) have more. And the Copa success would also be historic for two German speakers: Alaba and Toni Kroos would then have cleared all the titles that could be cleared with FC Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. It would also be a great relief for Kroos. He has been playing in Spain since 2014, but has so far been denied the Spanish Cup. For Real Madrid as a club, it would meanwhile be the 96th title in club history.

• THE CHARTHOUSE:The finals of the Copa del Rey have been taking place in the Olympic Stadium in Seville since 2021, after the Spanish Cup was played there in 1999 and 2001. The final between Real Madrid and CA Osasuna will be the sixth at La Cartuja, which opened in 1999 and has a capacity of 57,619. Both teams received almost 20,500 tickets for Saturday evening. The prices were per Ticket at 39 euros to 231 euros – a Champions League final is significantly more expensive.

• BYE: Although they never played for Madrid’s first team, they still know each other Aridane Hernandez (2006/07) and Lucas Torró (2012 to 2016) Real Madrid from their training days.