Athletic-Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals | OneFootball

Real Madrid will face Athletic in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, following the draw held at the Real Federación Española de Fútbol headquarters. The single-game knock-out tie will take place on Thursday, 3 February at 9:30 pm (CET) at San Mamés.

Both sides have gone head to head in 20 Copa del Rey ties, with Real Madrid winning eleven of them. The last time the two sides met in the competition was in the 2005/06 campaign, when the Whites progressed to the next round with a 5-0 aggregate score. So far this season, Athletic Club have knocked out Atlético Mancha Real (0-2) and Barcelona (3-2). Butragueño: "These are two historic and proud clubs" “We’re delighted with the way our team is performing. Every game is a demonstration of mental strength. Yesterday’s game was a clear example of this after going down to ten men and coming back from a goal down in extra-time to win the game. This week we have experienced a very sad event, with Francisco Gento leaving us. He taught us to win and to defend this shirt with pride. Our players are showing this strength in every game, but we know there’s no respite. Every game is an opportunity to delight our fans. It’s a constant challenge and we have to keep going like this”.

An evenly balanced contest “It will be like a final for that we have to play away from home and we have to be prepared for it. We have full confidence in our players, we’re aware of the difficulties, but I’m convinced it’ll be a great game. I hope things go our way, because it’ll be an evenly balanced contest, but I’m sure we’ll create our chances to win the match”.

Respect “There is enormous respect between the two clubs. We are talking about two historic clubs and this great relationship between us is reflected on the pitch. And also through the fans, because whenever we go there they show the utmost respect to Real Madrid. These are two teams with a lot of pride, who are looking to score goals and who also have a spirit of sacrifice and team spirit as their hallmark. It's going to be a match that fans are going to enjoy, I have no doubt about that”.

Copa del Rey quarter-finals: Athletic-Real Madrid Real Sociedad-Betis Valencia-Cádiz Rayo Vallecano-Mallorca