Valenica will be confident of reaching the last eight of the Copa Del Rey when they welcome Espanyol on Wednesday.
Valencia have had a great season so far, and currently sit fourth in La Liga. They also started off 2015 with a bang, defeating Real Madrid 2-1 on Saturday and bringing an end to their run of 22 consecutive victories in competitive matches. Despite this victory, manager Nuno Esprito Santo underlined the importance of winning this tie convincingly.
He said: “We’re facing a difficult and hard-working rival. It’s up to us to resolve any problems we encounter in the game. It’s not definitive, but our aim is to ensure the tie is on the right track and then at Espanyol’s ground, get through to the next round.”
Espanyol have had a good season so far, currently sitting bang middle of the table in tenth position. They have already met their opponents this season so far, losing 3-1 in September - but this will be the first time that they have faced off in the Copa Del Rey for 32 years. However, their previous meetings in this competition have favoured the Catalan side knocking out Valenica four times in the last five meetings.
Valenica will be without their first-choice goalkeeper Diego Alves who has been ruled out after spraining his knee in a collision with Gareth Bale in the victory over Madrid; midfielder Pablo Piatti picked up a more serious injury in the same game suffering a muscle injury in his left leg which has side-lined him for the next month.
Espanyol look to be without; Cristian Alfonso (knee), Manuel Lanzarote (stomach) and Salva Sevilla (knee).