Lugo vs Atletico Madrid

Estadio Anxo Carro is the venue as Lugo and Atletico Madrid battle it out for a place in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.

Back-to-back 1-0 league losses in the build-up to this contest paint a bleak picture for third-tier Lugo. But they went to great lengths to set up this tie, beating Mirandes 2-0 in the previous Copa del Rey round. It’s likely to prove a futile effort unless they can upset the apple cart, which looks far-fetched. ‘Luguino’ will at least hope to keep things competitive on home turf after six of their last seven competitive outings yielded a full-time margin of under 1.5 goals (W3, D1, L3). Low scoring has been a common theme during that stretch, with six of those seven matches featured under 2.5 goals, highlighting the potential for an uneventful contest.

Yet, Atletico Madrid’s most recent La Liga game was anything but uneventful. Diego Simeone’s side suffered a stoppage-time heartbreak as high-flying Girona toppled them 4-3 in their opening league outing of 2024. Indeed, ‘Los Colchoneros’ head into proceedings amid a rough patch, having won just once in their last four competitive matches (D1, L2). On top of that, Atletico’s long-standing travel sickness has recently hit a new low, with the abovementioned loss to Girona condemning them to a third consecutive defeat on the road. They did at least find the back of the net after drawing a blank on their two previous trips.