Overview
Racing Santander have qualified for the next round of the Copa del Rey 2025-2026 season after a tough match, needing an extra time to beat Ponferradina 2-1.
Despite being rated higher than their opponents, coach Jose Alberto Lopez's students could not solve the match in the 90 minutes of official play. It was not until the 119th minute that Aritz Aldasoro's goal helped Racing Santander complete their mission and continue their journey in the cup arena.
The next opponent of the team leading the Segunda Division is Villarreal. And Racing Santander will aim to create a surprise for the representative from La Liga. Fans of the blue and white team are quite optimistic, based on their impressive performance recently.
Specifically, the home team is on a 6-match unbeaten streak, including 4 wins and 2 draws, scoring a total of 13 goals in this period.
However, Racing Santander need to be cautious, as they lost to another La Liga representative, Celta Vigo, in the same Copa del Rey stage last season.
In addition, the Mountaineers also have a poor head-to-head record against Villarreal, having won just two of their last 15 meetings. The last time they beat the "Golden Submarine" was a 1-0 win in La Liga in December 2011.
Meanwhile, Villarreal, despite many difficulties in the European arena, is showing stable performance in domestic tournaments, including La Liga and Copa del Rey.
In the previous round of the Spanish King's Cup, Villarreal needed a penalty shootout to overcome 26. However, coach Marcelino and his team are still considered a strong candidate for a place in the next round.
This was further reinforced when Villarreal had an outstanding record against Racing Santander, with 9 wins, 3 draws and only 2 losses in 15 official confrontations.
The postponement of the away match in La Liga against Levante last weekend due to bad weather conditions in the Valencia region also gave Villarreal more time to rest and prepare for this confrontation.
Despite competing for the La Liga title this season, Copa del Rey is seen as the most realistic path for the "Golden Submarine" to aim for a title. However, Villarreal have yet to qualify for the quarter-finals since being eliminated by Barcelona in the semi-finals of the 2014-2015 season.
Personnel situation
If there are no new developments related to the force situation, Jose Alberto Lopez will likely use a similar formation to the 1-1 draw with Leganes.
With goalkeeper jokin Ezkieta still sidelined due to injury, Plamen Andreev is expected to continue to guard the goal.
In midfield, Gustavo Puerta and Maguette Gueye are likely to take on the role of blocking and supporting the four-man defence.
Up front, Asier Villalibre - the striker who has scored 10 goals since the beginning of the season - is expected to be chosen to lead the front line.
On the other hand, even though he does not have to play on the weekend, Marcelino can still make some personnel adjustments. However, Villarreal's starting lineup will likely still have the presence of experienced players.
However, Pau Cabanes and Logua Costa (all with ligament injuries) and Gerard Moreno (mechanical injuries) will definitely be absent as all three have not recovered yet.
Expected lineup:
Racing Santander: Andreev, Salina, Ramon, Castro, Mantilla, Puerta, Gueye, Vicente, Canales, Martin, Villalibre.
Villarreal: Tenas, Altimira, Veiga, Marin, Cardona, Pepe, Partey, Gueye, Solomon, Oluwaseyi, Lopez.
The match between Racing Santander and Villarreal takes place at 1:00 am on December 18 (Vietnam time).
