Copa del Rey Odds: Barca, Atleti in Stacked Semis

Atletico Madrid (+216) vs Barcelona (+150), Draw (+240)

The two Spanish giants remaining in the Copa del Rey have drawn each other for the semifinals. While comparative lilliputians Celta Vigo and Alaves battle in one semi, Barcelona will meet Atletico Madrid. The first leg of their two-match aggregate goals series takes place at Vicente Calderón Stadium this Wednesday (February 1).

Even though Celta Vigo managed to knock out Real Madrid in the quarterfinals, this was not the semifinal matchups fans were hoping for. A Copa final between Barcelona dn Atletico would have been much more satisfying. Naught can be done about it now, however, and the two powers will meet for a place in the finals, with the winner entering the championship as a massive favorite.

The last time the two teams played, it resulted in an evenly-matched 1-1 draw. Before that, they played in the quarterfinals of the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League, where Atletico offset a 2-1 loss in the first leg with a 2-1 win in the second. Against the odds, Atletico defeated Barcelona and made it all the way to the finals (where they lost to Real Madrid).

Both teams have had a relatively easy time getting to the semifinals of this year’s Copa. Barcelona made easy work of Real Sociedad in the quarterfinals, winning 1-0 away and then landing a crushing 5-2 win at home. Atletico trounced Eibar 3-0 at home and held on with a 2-2 draw away.

La Liga has not been as smooth for Barcelona, who have suffered some embarrassing draws and losses this season. Their last game resulted in a 1-1 draw against 13th-place Real Betis, and they were lucky to get the single point. Álex Alegría scored in the 47th minute and Béticos held on all the way up until the 90th, until a last-ditch attempt by Barcelona resulted in an equalizer by Luis Suarez.

Atletico have been the more consistent side this season, but still they sit below Barca in the league. Barcelona (12-6-2, 42 points) are currently second, below Real Madrid, while Atletico (10-6-4, 36 points) are in fourth. Atleti may encounter some problems in the future if Manchester United’s bid for their star striker, Antoine Griezmann, goes through. But that shouldn’t affect the upcoming game.

This is an extremely hard game to pick. Barcelona at their best can overwhelm any team from any league; however, the Atletico Madrid defense is arguably the best in the world and gave Barcelona all sorts of problems last year. The bookmakers are favoring Barcelona even though they will be playing away, which may be underestimating the Atletico side. I say go with Atleti.

Pick: Atletico Madrid (+216).

Photo credit: “Antoine Griezmann” by Ver en vivo En Directo, CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0], via Flickr.