After Round of 16, Barcelona and Real Madrid Still Lead Odds to Win Copa del Rey
- Barcelona remain the favorites to win the competition after comfortable 5-0 win over Leganes
- Real Madrid register an equally casual 4-0 win at Real Zaragoza to move into quarterfinals and remain second favorites to win
- After Sevilla is surprisingly beaten 3-1 at Mirandes, reigning champions Valencia are now third favorites to win Copa del Rey
With the Copa del Rey down to the last eight, Barcelona and Real Madrid remain the teams to beat, with odds of +165 and +225 respectively to lift the trophy.
Despite a shaky 2-1 win in the round of 32, there were no such signs of nerves from Barca in the last 16, as they hammered fellow La Liga side Leganes 5-0 on Thursday to seal their spot in the quarterfinals, where they will visit Atletic Bilbao. As a result, the defending La Liga champions have seen their odds improve from the +175 they were at before that game.
Odds to Win Copa del Rey
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Barcelona | +165 |
| Real Madrid | +225 |
| Valencia | +700 |
| Real Sociedad | +1000 |
| Villarreal | +1000 |
| Athletic Bilbao | +1200 |
| Granada | +2200 |
| Mirandes | +5000 |
Odds taken January 31
Barca’s Trophy to Lose?
Barcelona showed little hesitation on Thursday, as they went in front through Antoine Griezmann after four minutes, were two up by the interval and then Lionel Messi scored a pair either side of a strike from Arthur to wrap up a tidy victory.
The fact that it was Messi’s first Spanish Cup game of the season – he was rested along with Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique in the last round – might be an indicator that Barca are now firmly intent on adding a 31st Copa del Rey title to their trophy cabinet.
Combined with the fact that Barcelona are trailing Real Madrid by three points in La Liga and with the Champions League as competitive as ever, the Copa del Rey might be their best chance of hoisting silverware this season.
Real Madrid Lurking
Currently second favorites to win the Spanish Cup, Madrid have found a rich vein of form in Zinedine Zidane’s second stint in charge of the capital club.
Los Blancos are unbeaten in 20 games, since losing to Real Mallorca back on October 19, and have lost just twice all season, with the second defeat coming in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain. Madrid showed more defensive stability in their round-of-16 matchup with Real Zaragoza, emerging with a 4-0 win to move into the quarterfinals and a home match against Real Sociedad.
With the team having not won La Liga since 2017 though, that will likely be Zidane and Madrid’s first priority this season, particularly with the team facing a challenging last-16 Champions League matchup against Manchester City and former Barca coach Pep Guardiola.
No Respect for the Champions
It was only eight months ago that Valencia upended Barcelona 2-1 to win their eighth Copa del Rey title. Still, with odds of +700 to repeat, up from +900 following Sevilla’s shock elimination against Mirandes in the last round, Valencia are hardly getting any respect from the bookmakers.
It’s not all that surprising though. To reach the last eight, and set up a visit to Granada, Valencia haven’t exactly been playing scintillating soccer. A tough 1-0 over third-tier Logrones was followed with a penalty shootout victory over another third-tier team, Cultural Leonesa. And with the team currently sitting seventh in the league, Valencia is not exactly a team that is firing on all cylinders.
Pick: Barcelona +165
For the last 20 years, Paul Attfield has worked in sports media. Starting out in his native Britain with the likes of The Independent, he eventually switched continents, with his work appearing in the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Yahoo Sports since.
