Spanish Cup final 12th April

[rcgills]

12 Apr-21:30

Espanyol v Real Zaragoza

2.80

3.00

2.37

Odds from Bet365

[bromsgrovegreen]

wheres the game being played rc? neutrel venue?

[rcgills]

Yes, it's at the Bernabeu. Will write some more on the game some time tomorrow probably when I get a chance, but I very definitely like the look of Zaragoza here.

[kompressaur]

Well you got me interested RC. I need a wee Wednesday night show off line as i sit in with my woman (we're back together, ive gave up porn and drink but kept the hash option. I think)

:drums

[rcgills]

Recent history:

2005	Betis	Osasuna	2 - 1
2004	Zaragoza	Real Madrid	3 - 2
2003	Mallorca	Recreativo	3 - 0
2002	Deportivo	Real Madrid	2 - 1
2001	Zaragoza	Celta	3 - 1
2000	Espanyol	Atlético	2 - 1
1999	Valencia	Atlético	3 - 0
1998	Barcelona (7)	Mallorca	1 - 1
1997	Barcelona (5)	Betis	3 - 2
1996	Atlético (5)	Barcelona	1 - 0
1995 (9)	Deportivo	Valencia	2 - 1
1994	Zaragoza (7)	Celta	0 - 0
1993	Real Madrid	Zaragoza	2 - 0
1992	Atlético	Real Madrid	2 - 0
1991	Atlético (5)	Mallorca	1 - 0
1990	Barcelona	Real Madrid	2 - 0
1989	Real Madrid	Valladolid	1 - 0
1988	Barcelona	Real Sociedad	1 - 0
1987	Real Sociedad (7)	Atlético	2 - 2
1986	Zaragoza	Barcelona	1 - 0

(5) Won after E-T.
(7) Won on penalties.
(9) Final suspended due to rain in 79th minute and concluded three days later.



Zaragoza and Espanyol travel to the Bernabeu on Wednesday for the final of the Spanish Copa del Rey. Zaragoza go into this match as favourites, and in my mind they should be clearer favourites than they actually are. They’ve had a far tougher run to get here, having seen off Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid, as well as Xerez and Alicante in the early rounds. Espanyol have beaten Getafe, Cadiz and Deportivo La Coruña to get here, they got a bye through the early rounds as they were involved in the UEFA Cup.


Zaragoza have won this competition twice in the last 5 seasons, and 6 times in all, and have been runners-up 4 times. Espanyol have won it 3 times, the most recent in 2000, and have been runners-up 5 times. Interesting to note from the above stats that the last 7 finals have been over 2.5 goals, and none of them have gone to extra time.


I think Zaragoza will be the better prepared of the two sides for this match. Their league season has been as good as over for some time now, and this final has become the focus of their entire season. Espanyol, meanwhile, are still involved in the relegation battle, just 2 points above the relegation zone at the moment with 6 games to go, so they still have other things on their mind apart from this game.


Zaragoza haven’t been in the best of form leading up to this game, with just 2 wins in their last 10 (although they’ve also got 5 draws), but I’d put that down, at least in the more recent games, to them being concentrated on this Cup final. It’s also worth pointing out that they’re unbeaten in their last 11 games away from La Romareda. Espanyol, meanwhile, come into this game on the back of 4 consecutive draws, and just two wins in their last 11 games. They’re also 6 games without a win away from home. One stat that is very definitely giving me doubts, however, is the recent H2H record between the two sides. Of the last 13 meetings between these two sides (going back as far as November 1998), Espanyol have won 7, Zaragoza just 1, with 5 draws. This season’s league meeting between the two sides in Barcelona finished 2-2, with the league game in Zaragoza to come at the end of this month.

Zaragoza so far appear to have a full squad to choose from, and even rested 7 first team players from the game at Sevilla at the weekend (and still managed to get a draw in spite of that – in fact it would’ve been a win but for a defensive error late in the game).

Espanyol have also taken their full squad to Madrid, including Martin Posse, despite him not being fit to play (although he’s only actually played 101 minutes this season anyway). Other than Posse, everyone else should be available.

Zaragoza are expected to take some 35,000 fans to the final, with around 26,000 Espanyol fans making the trip from Barcelona.

I’m torn on this one really. Before starting my research, I had a pretty clear idea in my mind that Zaragoza should be clear favourites, but that H2H record between the two sides doesn’t make good reading. I'm not sure whether to back down slightly and take the 1.72 with Bet365 on Zaragoza to win the competition (so including the possibility of them winning it in extra time or penalties if necessary), or whether to go for Zaragoza to win the game at 2.37. Will have to give it a bit more thought.

[rcgills]

The copy and paste thing is doing my head in . That 2005 final should obviously be Betis beating Osasuna 2-1 in the final.

[kompressaur]

looks trickey all in RC. good luck if you go for anything. anyone else fancy anything in this one?

[rcgills]

No further team news today. According to ESPN, the probable lineups are as follows:

ZARAGOZA: César; Ponzio, Alvaro, Gabriel Milito, Toledo; Oscar, Zapater, Celades, Cani; Ewerthon and Diego Milito.
ESPANYOL: Kameni, Zabaleta, Jarque, Lopo, Pochettino, Domi, Costa, Fredson, De la Peña, Luis García and Tamudo.

I think I'm going to take the slightly safer option and go with Zaragoza to win the Cup (i.e. including AET or on penalties if necessary), at 1.72 with Bet365

Copa del Rey - Zaragoza to win outright @ 1.72 7pts

[skin]

do u think its gonna be an Over Cup-Final again ?
or at least 2 goals in 90 minutes?

[rcgills]

I'm not sure about that Skin, and I very rarely bet on overs/unders, so I won't be making any predictions either way. All I will say is that Zaragoza's last 5 games (in the league) have seen a total of 6 goals, while Espanyol's last 4 league games have seen a total of 4 goals, so both teams seem to be involved in a lot of low-scoring games recently. No idea whether that will continue in the cup though.

[rene]

I look over this match but I can´t see a winner. Advance Real but not sure.
Real is better away and in the whole spanish table.They won versus Madrid 6-1 but lose 4-0 in the second leg. Espanyol won 2-1 at home versus Deportivo and in the second leg no goals 0-0 ..


smells like Saragossa ... what you say RC?

[Keith]

I wouldn't rely on the results from the previous rounds too much as any sort of a clue to the likely winner.

The oppositions team selection and motivation would have to be taken into account. Barca certainly rested quite a few when they visited Zaragoza.

I have backed Real @ 7/5 with 3 points.

I think that they are a better side, they have had a better preparation and although neither side have had a convincing set of recent results, on the whole Zaragozas games have been against the better teams from La Liga compared to Espanyol (save for the 5-0 against Seville which still leaves me baffled)