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Estadio de La Cartuja will play host to the 2026 Copa del Rey final tonight, as Ademola Lookman’s Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad lock horns for the trophy.
Atletico are aiming to win the competition for the 11th time in their history, while Real Sociedad have their sights on just a fourth Copa del Rey crown.
Atletico suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday night, but they still managed to advance to the semi-finals 3-2 on aggregate, with Diego Simeone’s side now preparing to tackle Arsenal in the final four.
Incredibly, Atletico have actually lost five of their last six games in all competitions, including a 2-1 defeat to Sevilla in their last domestic fixture, which left them fourth in the La Liga table, some 22 points behind the leaders Barcelona.
The Red and Whites will not be enjoying league success this year, but they can still win two cups, and they are aiming to lift the Copa del Rey trophy for the 11th time in their history.
Atletico last triumphed in 2012-13, beating Real Madrid 2-1, but they have actually lost their last two Copa del Rey contests against Real Sociedad, including a 2-0 defeat in the round of 16 in 2022.
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Real Sociedad lead the head-to-head record between the two sides in this competition six wins to four, which includes the 1987 final, which the Basque outfit won 6-4 on penalties.
The overall head-to-head record in this fixture does favour Atletico, though, with the capital team winning 80 of their 164 matches, including a 3-2 success when the pair last locked horns in Spain’s top flight in March of this year.
Real Sociedad have not beaten Atletico in any competition since the Copa del Rey last-16 contest back in January 2022, but they will certainly be the fresher of the two teams, having had a full week to prepare for the cup fixture with Simeone’s side.
Indeed, La Real were last in action on April 11, drawing 3-3 with Alaves in La Liga, which left them seventh in the table, just two points behind sixth-placed Celta Vigo in the battle for Europe.
Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side beat their Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao in the semi-finals of this season’s tournament, and their record in the competition against Atletico should hand them confidence ahead of this weekend’s showpiece event.
The White and Blues have only managed to win the Copa del Rey on three previous occasions, though, with their last success coming in 2019-20, when they beat Athletic in the final.
