ANDhe next April 23, in the great month of Seville, Betis and Valencia faces will be seen in the stadium Charterhouse to play for the title of the 120th edition of the Copa del Rey. An unprecedented final to date between two historical clubs of our football that, unlike the last editions of the tournament, will enjoy with the public in the stands a vibrant match with a title and access to European competitions at stake.
It will be the fifth final for the Betis and the eighteenth for the Valencianists. The Verdiblancos have not reached the last match since the 2005 edition, when they won their second title after defeating Osasuna in extra time thanks to a goal from Daniel Martin at Vicente Calderón. The last presence of Valencia went before him Barcelona in 2019 in a duel that meant the eighth trophy for the Valencianists.
the final numbers
Charterhouse will see a duel repeated several times in previous rounds, but never in the grand final, for the conquest of the Cup. It will be the 61st different final in 120 editions. The most repeated in history, with nine, is the play between athletic club and Barcelona. The Athletic It is, precisely, the rival that both teams have faced the most times in a final. The Betis was measured twice with the rojiblancos and the Valencia in four, the same numbers as before the Real Madridthe other rival against whom he has played more finals.
Betis and Valencia they have met in eight previous ties in the Cup with a clear mastery of the set of Mestalla. The Valencia won seven matches (1933, 1946, 1964, 1967, 1971, 2008 and 2019) while the Betis achieved the pass in the quarters of 1976. The last cup confrontation between the two was in the semifinals of 2019 in which after drawing in the Villamarin to two, a goal of Rodrigo Moreno in the turn in Mestalla gave the pass to Valencia to the final in which he would defeat Barcelona.
two different styles
The great cup final between Betis and Valencia will also be a duel of styles. That of the soccer control of Pellegrini’s team, which elaborates its plays with patience, looking for loopholes in the rival defenses moving the ball from side to side to end up accelerating in the final meters, and that of the intense and vertical soccer of Bordalás, expeditious in defense and quick to go on the counterattack when they manage to steal the ball.
Their paths to the final have also been different. Harder, at least on paper, for the Verdiblancos, who after the previous rounds against rivals of a lower category, had to leave Sevilla, a Champions team, Real Sociedad, at the Reale Arena, and the Lightning. And more comfortable for those from Mestalla, who only met First Division teams from quarters, against Cádiz at home, leaving Athletic by the wayside in the semifinals, round trip.
Pellegrini and Bordalás debut in the final
The Engineerdespite the great results he has achieved in Spanish football, he has never managed to reach a final of the Copa del Rey. The closest thing was the final of the Intertoto who disputed with Villarrealas soon as they arrived at the Castellón club, in which they beat Atletico Madrid, although it was played in a double game. His previous adventures in the KO tournament had never made it past the quarterfinals.
Bordalás, meanwhile, will also be a ‘debutant’ in a cup final. His ceiling in the competition so far was in the quarterfinals that he reached in the 2018-19 season as coach of the Getafe. It was precisely the Valencia his current club, who left him on the road, to later overcome the Betis in the semifinals on the way to his last title, previously conquered in the Benito Villamarin.
Two hobbies focused
And if it has been exciting for both teams the road to the grand final on April 23 in Charterhouse, the game in which the first of the two titles to which they aspire after overcoming the semifinals will be played for their respective fans. Two massive and passionate fans who, with the Betis as hosts in Sevillewill add color to the most beautiful game of the season in our country.
To qualify for the final of the Copa del Rey so much Betis What Valencia get a ticket for Spain Supercup which will be played next January in Saudi Arabia. Both will then have a new opportunity to fight for a title against the champion of League and the second classified of the domestic competition. But that will be another story… Now, they both want the Cup from Charterhouse.
