Cup action returns for eight of Spain’s top teams in the form of the Copa del Rey. Between Tuesday and Thursday, four quarter-final second legs will be played by the remaining eight sides in the competition. Two of the teams facing off are Sevilla and Atletico Madrid who both have it all to play for in the second leg. Atletico were beaten 2-1 on their patch by Sevilla and now must visit the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium to overturn the deficit.

STATS

• Sevilla are in decline in La Liga and with a European place slipping away from them, they are showing no signs of hanging on. With one win in their last six in the league, it looks bleak. The story is different in the Copa del Rey as they have a precious lead, they have knocked out two lower league sides (Cadiz and FC Cartagena) to get this far. The convincingly beat Espanyol in their last match by three goals to nil.
• Atletico are enjoying a better time in the league, sitting pretty in 2^nd but 11 points behind leaders, Barcelona. They could only manage a draw last time out against Girona in a performance which saw them squander a one-goal lead at home, similar to the lead they lost against Sevilla in the first leg. They have knocked out Elche and Lleida Esportiu so far.
• There is only one player who has scored more than Sevilla’s Joaquin Correa in this season’s Copa del Rey as the Argentine has four goals, closely followed by his team-mate, Wissam Ben Yedder on three.
• A striker that also has three goals in the competition is Fernando Torres, who happens to be Atletico’s leading talisman in the Copa del Rey.

HEAD TO HEAD

Meetings between these two sides tend to be quite even and in the last five of these match-ups, both sides have come away with two wins. Of course, the most recent of these was the first leg of this tie which was won by Sevilla 2-1 courtesy of goals from Jesus Navas and Correa after Diego Costa’s opener. Atletico won both of the fixtures before that, most notably a 2-0 victory back in September. The last time the teams met in Seville, the home side took the points after a 1-0 win. Both teams have scored in just two of the last seven games between them, providing some hope for an Atletico comeback.

Head to head matches: Sevilla FC - Atletico Madrid

17.01.2018	Copa	Atletico Madrid	Sevilla FC	1:2
23.09.2017	LaLi	Atletico Madrid	Sevilla FC	2:0
19.03.2017	LaLi	Atletico Madrid	Sevilla FC	3:1

SEVILLA NEWS

With their league performances dramatically diminishing, the Copa del Rey gives Sevilla a chance of some success this season. If they avoid defeat, they will progress into the semi-final. They have several players hoping to return from injury including Simon Kjaer, Clement Lenglet and Daniel Carrico.

Latest matches: Sevilla FC

20.01.2018	LaLi	Espanyol Barcelona	Sevilla FC	0:3	W
17.01.2018	Copa	Atletico Madrid	Sevilla FC	1:2	W
14.01.2018	LaLi	CD Alaves	Sevilla FC	1:0	L
11.01.2018	Copa	Sevilla FC	Cadiz CF	2:1	W
06.01.2018	LaLi	Sevilla FC	Betis Sevilla	3:5	L

ATLETICO NEWS

The visitors will need to show attacking intent right from the first whistle on Tuesday night. They won’t have their new (old) signing Diego Costa as he picked up a muscular injury against Girona but Filipe Luis will make his way back into the team after being out for a few weeks.

Latest matches: Atletico Madrid

20.01.2018	LaLi	Atletico Madrid	Girona FC	1:1	D
17.01.2018	Copa	Atletico Madrid	Sevilla FC	1:2	L
13.01.2018	LaLi	SD Eibar	Atletico Madrid	0:1	W
09.01.2018	Copa	Atletico Madrid	Lleida Esportiu	3:0	W
06.01.2018	LaLi	Atletico Madrid	Getafe CF	2:0	W

SUMMARY

There is potential for this to be an exciting, attacking cup tie because Atletico will be forced to get at the Sevilla defence in order to wipe the deficit. They have a better-equipped side but with their lead and home fans, Sevilla should do enough to secure their passage into the next round.