Espanyol will be eyeing a third consecutive victory when they take on fourth-tier Atletico Baleares in Thursday’s Copa del Rey clash.
The second-round tie will take place at Atletico Baleares’s Estadio Balear in Palma, which can hold just over 4,000 supporters.
Match preview
Atletico Baleares are looking forward to playing host to a La Liga side after getting the better of third-tier Gimnastic in the first round.
Juanmi Duran and Guillem Castell grabbed a goal apiece to guide their team to a 2-0 victory to make it past the first round for the first time since 2021-22.
Luis Blanco’s side will carry momentum into the second-round tie after winning each of their last three league matches.
They recorded 2-1 victories over Torrent and Poblense, before they claimed a narrow 1-0 win in Sunday’s away meeting with Atletic Lleida.
As a result of their fine form, Baleares are sitting in third spot in Group 3 of the Segunda Federacion, with just one point separating them from the top of the table.
Baleares will face an Espanyol side for the second time this season after playing out a 1-1 draw against the ‘B’ team in October – a result which has helped them build a six-game unbeaten home run.
Espanyol, meanwhile, started their Copa del Rey journey with a 2-1 success against Baleares’ recent league opponents, Atletic Lleida, in October.
Manolo Gonzalez’s side followed that result with back-to-back La Liga defeats against Alaves and Villarreal, before they returned to winning ways against Sevilla.
The Periquitos picked up three more points in Sunday’s home clash against Celta Vigo, which saw Kike Garcia net an 86th-minute winner to snatch a 1-0 victory at Balaidos.
Having picked up 24 points from 14 league games, Espanyol are sitting in sixth spot and dreaming of playing European football for the first time since 2019-20.
The Catalan side will put their European bid on hold to focus on their Copa del Rey campaign, with the visitors dreaming of going all the way to win the cup for the first time since 2005-06.
However, they will be fully aware of the perils of the early rounds after losing to fourth-tier Barbastro at this stage of last season’s competition.
Atletico Baleares Copa del Rey form:
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Atletico Baleares form (all competitons):
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Espanyol Copa del Rey form:
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Espanyol form (all competitions):
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Team News
© Imago / ZUMA Press Wire
Baleares could line up with a back four of Gabriel Ramis, Alejandro Perez, Jaume Pol and Ivan Serrano.
In fact, Blanco could decide to keep faith with the same lineup that started Saturday’s narrow win over Atletic Lleida.
Jaume Tovar will offer the home side’s main goal threat after scoring 11 goals in 14 competitive matches this term.
As for the visitors, they remain without the attacking talent of Javi Puado, who has been out since October due to a knee injury.
Atletico Baleares possible starting lineup:
Garcia; Ramis, Perez, Pol, Serrano; Keita, Bonet, Jofre, Taffertshofer, Duran; Tovar
Espanyol possible starting lineup:
Fortuno, Sanchez, Rubio, Riedel, Salinas; Exposito, Pickel; Jofre, Terrats, Koleosho; Kike
We say: Atletico Baleares 1-2 Espanyol
Espanyol were made to work for their win in the first round, and we think that they will be given another test in Thursday’s fixture, although we expect their extra quality to shine through in the end.
