17th May, 2013
Tonight Real Madrid face another final with their sights set on winning their 19th Copa del Rey. To bring the trophy home the squad will have to beat Atletico Madrid in an overflowing Santiago Bernabeu divided equally between the two team’s supporters.
The side managed by coach Jose Mourinho, who has already beaten Atletico twice this season in La Liga, will seek the second Copa title in just three years with the help of Cristiano Ronaldo’s attacking power. The Real forward has netted 54 goals so far this season between all competitions and has been the top scorer in the Copa for three years running.
Real Madrid have made it to the final after outperforming Alcoyano, Celta de Vigo, Valencia and Barcelona in the rounds leading up to the final. The squad wants to make an addition to their trophy case and is the top-scoring team in the tournament (+13) after scoring in 19 consecutive Copa matches since 2011 for a total of 41 goals.
“Finals are played to win and that’s our attitude; we have to be very demanding of ourselves and give it our all,” said Sergio Ramos. Madrid’s second captain analyzed the upcoming match against Atletico and was confident that they’ll be able to dedicate the title to their fans: “We know our rival and we know that they’re tough. A title is at stake and we have to be demanding and defend the crest until the end. After what happened in the Champions League, which was the last game in the Bernabeu with loads of enthusiasm, we have to try to win the Copa in honour of the fans, to return the affection we felt the day of the match against Borussia Dortmund. But there are no favourites, the score is set at zero and we’ll give our all like we do in every game and that’s the key”.
To forward Gonzalo Higuaín, “The key to winning the Cup is for the team to be at their best, and that’s what we’re trying to do. I hope we win. Afterwards the goals won’t matter if the Cup is ours. If I get to score, that’s great, but our mind is on winning the game.”
“It’s a trophy that we are very excited to win,” Ronaldo said of the Copa del Rey. “We know it will be a hard-fought match against a rival of the same city and it will be quite a show for the fans.”