While clubs above a certain income bracket are loathe to acknowledge its existence or (worse) admit that they’d be emotionally moved AT ALL to win it, the Copa del Rey has unquestionably been a key part of the glory in Sevilla’s glory years. Having won the cup five times and twice in the last five years, this tournament claims a significant chunk of real estate in the trophy cabinet. Further, the CdR is for a team of Sevilla’s size and stature the rare combination of a competition with great teams (including The Best Two Clubs in the World®) and a decent chance of being champions.
So it is with mucha ilisuión that the team heads to the tiny Andalusian town of Lepe to begin this year’s quest for the King’s Cup. There the rojiblanco take on San Roque of Segunda B. Obviously this is a game we ought to win handily (but you never know, do you, Real Madrid?), but it’s worth noting that the club is currently 4th in their division of 2˚B, and have conceded the fewest goals of their group. Not bad! Other fun facts: San Roque’s coach, Luis Garcia Tevenet, was not long ago an assistant coach for Antonio Álvarez at Sevilla. Also: their stadium has a capacity of 3,500.
Given this squad’s pedigree and the behemoth we’ll be taking on next week, you might think Marcelino would look to trot out some youngsters for this game, but the announced squad list looks an awful lot like our normal 18. Not sure what’s up with that, but it’s not hard to imagine Marcelino thinking the team (and his job) are in need of a pick-me-up after the downer of that loss at Levante. Hopefully the folks that usually start on the bench will be on the field for kick-off or at least get some significant playing time.
That kick-off is 4pm Eastern, so duck out of work early or cut class to cheer your heroes to victory!
Monchi's Men 
I’m sort of half-heartedly watching the game, which Sevilla seems to be half-heartedly playing.
It’s 0-1 Sevilla on a goal from Kanoute. San Roque had a goal rightfully annulled for offsides.
We have our best 11 out there, but no one’s working particularly hard…looks like we’re thinking about the weekend.
FT: sevilla looked a bit more lively and bit more like scoring in the second half, but the game ends 0-1. not too much to take away from the game, and all we really needed was a win (although it would’ve been nice to have a few more goals for the return leg). let’s set our sights on Saturday, then!
Thanks for keeping tabs on this one. The return leg is next week. We may see increased traffic of Madridistas this weekend, so let’s all be on our best, most welcoming behavior in spite of our disdain for them. : )