Santander hosts the Copa del Rey with Barça as the favorite

The Barça team faces Bathco Torrelavega this Friday in the second quarterfinal (3:30 p.m.)

Complete the day: Guadalajara – Ademar (1:00 p.m.), Logroño – Frigoríficos (6:00 p.m.) and BM Sinfín – At. Valladolid (8:30 p.m.)

Santander hosts this weekend and 20 years later the final phase of the XLVIII Cup of SM el Rey, the most even competition in Spanish handball despite the fact that Barça aspires to win the title for the tenth consecutive time and 27th overall. Two decades after its inauguration with this competition, the Sport’s palace Santander will host the eight best with the title to three matches seen and with all of them live through Teledeporte and RTVE Play

Undoubtedly, the rival to beat will be the current champion and clear dominator of the national scene in the last decade, the Barça. With the Liga Plenitude ASOBAL in their pocket and on the verge of playing in the Champions League quarterfinals against Danish GOG, Carlos Ortega’s team is now focused solely on this final phase.

the azulgranas They will debut this Friday at 3:30 p.m. against Bathco Torrelavega. The great revelation of Spanish handball will try to surprise very close to his house, so the support of his fans will be massive.

On this same side of the painting, CIVITAS Guadalajara and ABANCA Ademar will raise the curtain of this final phase at 1:00 p.m. with a duel that seems even, as they have already demonstrated in the ASOBAL Plenitude League with a victory for each one. The team led by the former Barça coach Manolo Cadenas will seek to overcome this barrier of the quarterfinals to improve their performance in 2022, while the Alcarreños on their return to the Cup four years later do not set limits.

We move to the other side with another high voltage shock between the BM Logroño La Rioja and Frigoríficos del Morrazo (6:00 p.m.), two teams with good memories in these final stages of the Cup: the La Riojans for their three finals in the last decade and the Galicians for their spectacular comeback in the last edition, reaching the semifinals against Barça with a great image in the final hatching of Dani Fernández (now at Stuttgart) and mobilizing hundreds of fans to Antequera. In the league tournament this season, Miguel Ángel Velasco’s men have won both duels.

And to close this marathon Friday of the quarterfinals, the host Blendio Sinfín will debut in this competition against Recoletas Atlético Valladolid (8:30 p.m.). In front of their people, the people from Santander will have the opportunity to do something great in a tournament that could give a European place in the event that the other finalist is Barça, a very succulent prize that the Valladolid will also pursue in their return to a final phase five years later.

Las semifinals they will take over the afternoon of Saturdaydisputing the first one at 6:00 p.m. between the winners of the Barcelona – Bathco Torrelavega and CIVITAS Guadalajara – ABANCA Ademar. In the second at 8:30 pm the winners of BM Logroño La Rioja – Frigoríficos del Morrazo and Blendio Sinfín will face each other. Recoletas Atlético Valladolid. Finally, the grand finale of this XLVIII Cup of SM el Rey will be played on domingo at 4:00 p.m..

Future Hispanics, on stage

As usual, another of the great attractions of this weekend is the celebration of the Men’s Spanish Mini Cupa competition that brings together the eight cadet teams of the clubs participating in the Absolute Cup (both tournaments are held simultaneously). Without a doubt, an ideal opportunity to observe the absolute international futures.

He Exterior Pavilion of La Albericia will host the entire competition except the grand finale, which will be held on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at the Santander Sports Palace as a prelude to the absolute final. The first phase is played in two groups of four teams, with three games between Friday and Saturday and with Barça defending the title (led by the genius Raúl Entrerríos last year).

All the matches of this 2023 Men’s Spanish Mini Cup can be followed live through streaming offered by the Royal Spanish Handball Federation on its official YouTube channel.