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All eyes are on El Clasico as far as the Copa Del Rey goes, but there are three other ties, all featuring La Liga sides. Espanyol plays Tuesday, Bilbao plays Mallorca on Wednesday, and Valencia host Levante on Thursday.
Follow @sbnation on Twitter, and Like SBNation.com on Facebook.Jan 17, 2012 - El Clasico is the biggest non-final club football game in the world, regardless of what competition it's being played in. Copa Del Rey enthusiasts and fans of the other sides remaining in the competition should probably forgive the public for only focusing on that one game for that reason. But there are still three other games that are going on, and since none of them overlap with Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, you might as well watch them.
Espanyol, Mirandes, Athletic Bilbao and Mallorca are on one side of the bracket in the quarterfinal. This will make Marcelo Bielsa a favorite to reach the competition's final, and football is better when Marcelo Bielsa wins trophies, regardless of what team he is managing. The other side features the big two, along with Valencia and Levante. Yes, La Liga's top four sides are all playing each other and are in the same half of the bracket.
Here's the schedule for the first legs of the Copa Del Rey quarterfinals
Espanyol vs. Mirandes - Tuesday, 3:00 p.m. ET, 9:00 p.m. local
Athletic Bilbao vs. Mallorca - Wednesday, 2:00 p.m. ET, 8:00 p.m. local
Real Madrid vs. Barcelona - Wednesday, 4:00 p.m. ET, 10:00 p.m. local
Valencia vs. Levante - Thursday, 3:30 p.m. ET, 9:30 p.m. local
We'll have specific coverage of the biggest game of the quarterfinals in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream. For more on those two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes.
Real Madrid vs. Barcelona had the spotlight on Wednesday, but Athletic Bilbao and Mallorca were also in action on the other half of the Copa del Rey draw. Athletic, who play Real Madrid in La Liga over the weekend, did not appear to have one eye on that game as they played a full-strength side, holding nothing back in the first leg at San Mames. How they do over the weekend remains to be seen, but that decision was justified on Wednesday when Marcelo Bielsa's men defeated Mallorca 2-0.
Mallorca are now going to have a very difficult time getting to the semifinals after failing to get an away goal. Bilbao were at their finest, with Fernando Llorente scoring in the 35th minute and Iker Muniain adding an insurance goal in the 59th minute. Defender Ander Herrera and workhorse forward Gaizka Toquero came in as late substitutes to kill the game off and did so successfully, denying Mallorca a goal.
Despite all of his histronics, Sergio Busquets is one of the best midfielders in the world and he shows it when Fabio Coentrao dares to try to burst past him on the Barcelona right, diving into an inch-perfect slide tackle that takes the ball off the fullback, flattens him, and allows to keep it in play. Granted, if someone did that to him he'd have claimed it broke his leg, but it's still a brilliant piece of play regardless.
Real Madrid, who'd really quite like to win this match, are making a change, taking off Gonzalo Higuain and Lassana Diarra and replacing them with Mesut Ozil and Jose Callejon, which will allow them to move from this defensive 4-3-3 to a more familiar 4-2-3-1. Whether or not that's enough to break down this Barcelona defence or not is a good question, but there's plenty of firepower and speed in the hosts' front line at this point, and it's just a matter of getting them the ball. Within seconds of coming on, Callejon takes out Lionel Messi and earns himself a yellow card. Pepe treads on Messi's hand while he's on the ground and should be sent off, but isn't.
For more on the two teams, check out Real Madrid blog Managing Madrid and FC Barcelona blog Barca Blaugranes. We have live coverage of the match in our Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2012 El Clasico StoryStream.
Greetings from the land of sand. This is the weekly segment here on Managing Madrid where I walk around my international campus and ask random people of different backgrounds and football loyalties questions about the footballing world and Real Madrid.
Real Madrid travel to Barcelona this Wednesday to face their rivals once again in the second leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinals series. Los blancos will be looking to ride the momentum after their 4-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the league. It is yet to be seen as to whether Mourinho will be changing his strategy come Wednesday night but after accepting the blame for Real's disappointing 1-2 in the previous leg, he's probably busy rethinking something.
The Question this Week: Who will advance to the next round of the Copa del Rey?
When you answer, please keep in mind that this question isn't asking who will win, but rather, who will advance. For example, even if Real Madrid manages to pull off a 1-0 victory in Camp Nou, they still won't continue because the Catalans have two away goals.
You can read some answers from other footballing fans after the jump. Take a look and then either vote in the poll or leave a comment or both. Hala Madrid!
"Barca. Not cause they're better, just because I guess they have a higher chance so they will hopefully advance to the next round even though this cup is not that important."
-Nadim, Lebanon, Barcelona
"Barca for the fact that:
1. They are at home
2. Two goals advantage and they will play defensive
But then again it could be like the Super Cup where it went down to the last couple of minutes before the winner could be decided."
-Saker, Palestine, Barcelona
"Barca. [They're] going to play defensive and Messi will score a counter attack goal."
-Phillip, Lebanon, AC Milan
Poll Read More: Barcelona, Real Madrid"Without a doubt Barca will win."
-Fahad, Pakistan, Liverpool