Athletic Club Bilbao - Atletico Madrid predictions and free betting tips [29/02/2024]

Today in the context of the second leg of the Spanish Cup semi-finals, "Athletic" is set to host Madrid's "Athletico" on their home turf. The home team has a slight advantage after their victory at Wanda Metropolitano earlier in the month, whereas "los colchoneros" have only won a single one out of their last six games.

Predicted line-ups

Athletic: Agirresabala; De Marcos, Vivian, Paredes, Garcia de Albenis; Prados, Ruiz de Galarreta; I. Williams, Sanset, N. Williams; Guruzeta.

Athletico: Oblak; Llorente, Savic, Witsel, Hermoso, Lino; De Paul, Koke, Barrios; Correa, Morata.

Athletic

Athletic is on the hunt for the Copa del Rey title, having gained a significant advantage in the first semi-final match at Wanda Metropolitano, becoming the first team to beat "los colchoneros" on their own ground this season (0:1). The deciding factor was a penalty scored by Alex Berenguer in the 25th minute. Contrastingly to last year's performance, the team's goal now is to build on this success and qualify for the final. The hosts have not reached the Copa del Rey final since the 1983-84 campaign, when they won this competition for the 23rd time in their history. Over the last weekend in La Liga, Ernesto Valverde's charges were soundly defeated by Betis with a score of 3:1, although in the case of a positive outcome, they could have equalled Athletico's points in the race for the top four.

It's noteworthy that the club from Bilbao plays superbly at home: they haven't been defeated at San Mames since August last year and currently possess a nine-match winning streak. Ander Herrera and Lekue will likely be absent from this face-off. As far as the rest of the team is concerned, Valverde can count on his optimal squad, with Nico Williams (3 goals, 6 assists in La Liga) returning to the fray after a receiving a red card during the last round of La Liga. Other available players include Inaki (9 goals, 3 assists in La Liga) and Guruzeta (10 goals, 3 assists). Berenguer (6 goals, 2 assists in La Liga) has been in good form in the past few weeks, whereas keeper Julen Agirresabal will likely replace Unai Simon.

Athletico

Athletico missed a great opportunity last weekend to close in on the top three, securing just a single point away to Almeria (2:2), the only team in La Liga (perhaps even in Europe's top five) that has not won yet this season. Diego Simeone's side seems to have given up on the title, shifting their focus to the Copa del Rey (they are one goal behind after the first leg) and the Champions League (they lost to Inter in Italy by the same margin). The capital side seems to be in a slump, having only won one of their last five away games across all competitions. The Spanish Cup has remained elusive for "los colchoneros" for quite some time; the last time they featured in the tournament final was 11 years ago.

Athletico's team will certainly be without Thomas Lemar and the club's top scorer Antoine Griezmann (11 goals, 6 assists in La Liga), as well as Aspilicueta (expected to return to action in April) and Jimenez (important for centre-back rotation) - all are out due to injuries. In the match with Almeria, Angel Correa scored his 7th goal of the season, while Alvaro Morata (13 goals in La Liga) only came on as a substitute - we can expect to see the Spaniard lead the attack in Copa del Rey. Witsel and Hermoso are also expected to start and form a defensive trio with Stefan Savic. Simeone might decide to field Marcos Llorente in midfield, assisted by the experienced duo of Koke and De Paul.

Head-to-head

Athletic not only won the first leg in Madrid (0:1), but they also claimed victory during the first round of La Liga at home (2:0).

Match prediction for Athletic Bilbao – Athletico Madrid

Having secured two clean sheet victories against "los colchoneros" this season, Athletic's chances of at least avoiding a loss are greatly bolstered, particularly considering that Simeone will not be able to utilise Antoine Griezmann due to injury. Generally, "the Lions" perform flawlessly at home and haven't experienced a loss at San Mames since August. My prediction is a win for the home side with a handicap of 0.