MADRID, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Athletic Club Bilbao and Real Madrid will meet in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey on Thursday night in what promises to be the tie of the round in Spain.
Athletic prepare to welcome the La Liga leaders after knocking FC Barcelona out in the previous round and the Basque side is almost at full strength, with only the injured Unai Vencedor unavailable for the game.
Although they have lost to Thursday's rivals three times already this season, Athletic will have a special San Mames Cup atmosphere to push them on and the side deserved much more from two narrow league defeats at the end of last year, while they were missing several players for their Supercup defeat in Riyadh in January.
The return of Yuri Berchiche at left back should give Athletic greater depth down their left flank, while the pace of Nico Williams down the right could again be vital against a rival that is missing left backs Ferland Mendy, Marcelo and Miguel Gutierrez through injury, suspension and COVID-19 respectively.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti also has a doubt over the fitness of striker Karim Benzema, who is working to recover from a hamstring problem he picked up against Elche less than two weeks ago.
With the first leg of their Champions League tie against Paris Saint German just two weeks away, Ancelotti will not want to risk Benzema, despite the striker's exceptional record against Athletic.
Ancelotti's preparations have not been helped by the fact that Brazilian trio Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Casemiro only returned to Spain on Wednesday after playing World Cup qualifying games for Brazil.
Only Vinicius played more than 45 minutes against Paraguay on Tuesday night, so jetlag is likely to be Real Madrid's biggest problem, while Eder Militao flew back at the weekend as he was suspended for Tuesday.
Thursday's second quarterfinal sees Real Sociedad face Betis, with the home side looking to avenge a 4-0 thrashing they suffered in Seville earlier this season. ■
