Spanish soccer giants FC Barcelona and Real Madrid learned who they will face in the Copa del Rey semifinals after the draw was made on Wednesday afternoon in the country’s capital.
Barca has been drawn against Atletico Madrid, while Real Madrid will meet Real Sociedad for a chance to play in the final.
The first leg of the semifinals is planned for February 26 while the return leg should take place around April 2.
Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid are in the last four for the second year running, with 2022/2023 champions Madrid having been knocked out of the last 16 by Atleti last term as Barca fell to Athletic Club in the quarterfinals.
To get to this stage of the competition this time round, Barca thrashed Valencia 5-0 in the quarterfinals while Atleti saw Getafe off by the same score.
Madrid had more difficult work cut out for them but managed to beat Leganes 3-2 with an injury time winner, while Real Sociedad got past Osasuna via a 2-0 triumph.
At present, all of the clubs in the semifinals save for Real Sociedad have realistic chances of winning La Liga too, with Madrid leading the pack by just a point over Atleti and two points ahead of Barca.
These matches will of course put more of a load on the clubs involved in terms of their calendar, with the Madrid clubs and the Catalans also contesting the Champions League at present, which is why there is so much time between the Copa del Rey semifinal first and second legs.
While Madrid put one foot in the Champions League last 16 by beating Manchester City 3-2 in the first leg of a playoffs tie at the Etihad on Tuesday, Atleti and Barca already qualified for the knockout phase by finishing in the top eight of the UCL’s new look league phase.
Whoever manages to qualify for the final will attempt to lift the Copa del Rey on April 26 at the Estadio de la Cartuja de Sevilla in Seville, which is often used for the Spanish national team’s matches.
