01 March 2023

PRE-MATCH: The extreme cold will not prevent a full stadium for the semi-final at El Sadar

CA Osasuna and Athletic Club will fight for one of the tickets to the final in Seville. The stadium will be full and they will play under adverse weather conditions.

The first semi-final of Copa del Rey kicks off today with a match to celebrate. CA Osasuna and Athletic Club will face each other in cold conditions. At 9:00 p.m., AEMET predicts that temperatures at El Sadar will be -2ºC and a wind chill of around -7ºC. However, it will not stop the fans from reaching their record attendance, which was 21,741 spectators so far. The ticket offices have already hung up the "sold out" sign and it is expected that not even the cold weather will stop the fans, approaching the full stadium with about 23,576 spectators. La 1 and Movistar + will broadcast the match and Jesús Gil Manzano will be in charge of it.

It will be the first time that the two teams play together in the semi-finals, but they have faced in other competitions. They both played in the quarter-finals in the 1955/56 season, the round of last 16 in the 1960/61 competition and the round of last 16 in the 2008/09 season. In each case, the lions ended up qualifying. These days, the Navarran team is just one point ahead of their opponents in the regular season standings, so undoubtedly it will be an even match.

It was not until last weekend that Osasuna won a match after five matches without a victory. They won against Sevilla FC, the team they knocked out in the previous round of the Copa. The team led by Jagoba Arrasate will play without Rubén Peña, so 'Chimy' Ávila will be their main attacking threat. Los Rojillos are back in the semi-finals 18 years later.

Athletic Club beat Valencia CF in the previous round, and they will play now after losing in their last two games. However, despite having several injured players, Iñigo Martínez, an important player in the Ernesto Valverde's team, is back. It is not sure that Ander Herrera, Morcillo and Unai Simón will play in this game. The Basque team have played in two of the last three finals and they want to repeat the feat in 2023.

This will be the only two-legged round of the tournament, but both teams aim to win to avoid possible difficulties in the second match. They are about to get a place in the final on May 6^th in Seville and both Osasuna and Athletic Club will do their best on the pitch at El Sadar.