Another big day for Eldense in its most exciting season in years. This athletic bilbao This Thursday (21:00 PM), visit team Elda, the leader of their group in the First RFEF, at a Pepico Amat that will offer a full house to reach round 16 of the Copa del Rey. Although they will face an ambitious opponent who, with the support of their fans, will not stop ringing the bell, it has been the tournament that brought them the most enjoyment throughout their long history.
Therefore, the Basque team will have New Pepico Amat a test to confirm his toughness in the qualifiers for a Cup-format match where he has gone 17 in a row outside of the Finals and hasn’t been relegated in 19 years.
The last of them were those who faced Valencia Alzira (0-2) and the neighboring Sestao River (0-1) and Bilbao team, which they had to overcome to see themselves in this last 32 round they played in Elda.
Alicante club sporting director Víctor Lafuente stressed that after knocking out Burgos in the second round of the competition, Athletic knew that “the goal is to win the Cup, but anything can happen in a single game”. “Eldense will go out for a draw”.
Although Deportivo’s coach Fernando Estévez has chosen to give a more realistic message, the football atmosphere and enthusiasm that Elda breathes before this cup draw between Eldense and Athletic Club makes the surprise possible.
In that sense, Eldense player Fran Carnicer states that they are “ready to win”, “even though it’s complicated by everything Elda has produced about this match and by the Athletic entity”. “If we didn’t think we could do it, we wouldn’t go out and play,” he says.
The Eldense coach will have: Possible loss of midfielders Pedro Capó and Iván Forte he finds himself in the last stage of his physical problems. Athletic came to Pepico Amat without conceding a goal in their eight-game winning streak, with seven wins in those matches. Among them are two cup qualifiers and two league games where he added four points.
Fernando Estévez confirmed in a preview of the draw that his aim was to “make it a tough game for the opponent”. In this sense, the coach warned that there is a Barcelona group. “ready to compete”. “I think we are ready to play a competitive match against a top opponent with eight or ten international players.” Estévez also wanted to send a message of calm in the face of possible wear and tear that the cup match against Athletic could leave behind. “We are aware that the game against Atleth could hurt us in the league competition.. The trophy is beautiful, it’s an economic relief for the club, but it’s our responsibility that it doesn’t condition the rest of the season,” reminded the manager.