Our prediction for this Copa del Rey match:
There will be fireworks when Real Betis and Valencia face each other at Estadio de La Cartuja in the Copa del Rey final. Los Beticos aim to put icing on the cake on a very successful season, but Saturday’s game will be anything but a walk in the park for the Andalusian outfit. Both Camarasa and Montoya are sidelined with injuries, while Borja Iglesias could be recalled to the starting XI after coming as a substitute in a 1-0 loss to Elche.
Los Che, on the other hand, set up a meeting with Real Betis by beating Athletic Club in the two-legged tie. Valencia, though, failed to impress in a midweek loss (0-2) to Villarreal, which is probably the main reason why we are going to put our money on the nominal hosts. As for the away side, defender Dimitri Foulquier is back from the La Liga ban.
Highlighted Player (William Carvalho):
Angola-born defensive midfielder William Carvalho has overseen a dramatic rise in his stock over the past few seasons at Sporting. William Carvalho is coming from a proper football family since his father and grandfather were also footballers, but his way to the top has had a somewhat dramatic twist to it.
Carvalho moved to Portugal as a child and first started playing football in the streets before he was picked up by Recreativos Desportivos de Algueriao. William Carvalho joined the Sporting football academy at the age of 13 The 24-year-old Portugal star player has spent two years on loan at Fatima and Cercle Brugge, before he got the chance to cement his place in the starting line-up for Portuguese giants.
William Carvalho came through all youth ranks with the Portugal national team, while he was given his senior debut in 2013. Carvalho played an important role in his country’s maiden European Championship title in France over the summer.
Highlighted Team (Valencia):
Founded on March 18, 1919, Valencia FC are a Spanish football club that compete in La Liga. Los Che play their home games at Estadio de Mestalla, the stadium which was opened back in May, 1923. The capacity of the venue is 50,000. Seeing that bats are quite common in Valencia, it is no surprise they are nicknamed the Bats.
Valencia made it to the Champions League final on two occasions (2000, 2001), but they were beaten in the title games by Real Madrid and Bayern Munchen respectively. The Spanish club, though, did well to win the UEFA Cup title in the 2003/2004 season, with the team beating Marseille in the final of the competition.
A number of top-class footballers were part of the club in the past, with the likes of Pablo Aimar, Ruben Baraja, David Albelda, Santiago Canizares, John Carew and Gaizka Mendieta all playing for the Estadio de Mestalla outfit. Valencia main colors are white and black, whilst they often where orange jerseys and shorts when playing on the travels.