(Football news) Real Madrid’s aspirations of winning two straight titles were dashed by Los Rojiblancos, who defeated Los Blancos 4-2 in the round of 16. In the most recent round, Los Palanganas defeated Getafe 3-1. 

To complete their revenge mission in the Copa del Rey, where attacking excellence was also the rule of the day, Atletico took advantage of their fierce opponents’ Saudi Arabian exhaustion after losing to Real Madrid in an eight-goal Supercopa de Espana spectacular.

Another 30 minutes were required after the two sides shared four goals between them in normal time, but Antoine Griezmann and Rodrigo Riquelme’s efforts after extra time propelled Diego Simeone’s crop into their second successive Copa del Rey quarter-final, but the top prize remains elusive.

Since clinching their 10th and most recent Copa crown in 2012-13, Atletico have come up short in four of their last six quarter-final appearances – including against recent victims Real Madrid in 2022-23 – but their success over Los Blancos extended Los Rojiblancos’ astounding unbeaten run at home to 25 matches.

It has been over a year since Simeone last oversaw a competitive defeat at the Metropolitano Stadium, where Barcelona prevailed 1-0 in La Liga action on January 8, 2023, and an Alvaro Morata strike was enough to see off Granada in Monday evening’s top-flight battle.

With Valencia doing Atletico a favour by defeating Athletic Bilbao, Simeone’s side have risen to fourth in the La Liga table before turning their attention back to the Copa del Rey, where they have not lost at home since January 2018, although that defeat was inflicted upon them by their upcoming foes.

Although Sevilla’s La Liga problems were temporarily alleviated by the Europa League during the 2022–2023 season, the recurring European second-tier champions are again looking for a way out of their protracted situation in the top division of Spanish football by competing in the Copa del Rey.

This season, Quique Sanchez Flores’s team has already amassed four victories away from home. They defeated Quintanar, Atletico Astorga, and Racing Ferrol, three lower-division opponents, before eliminating Getafe in the round of 16 with a 3-1 victory over their La Liga rivals on January 16.

Also read: Barcelona will play Athletic Bilbao in Copa Del Rey