Atletico Madrid can close its season with an improbable double when
it plays Sevilla in Spain's Copa del Rey final on Wednesday.
Atletico beat English side Fulham last week to claim the
Europa League trophy - its first piece of silverware for 14 years
when it managed a league-cup double.
Now, following a poor league campaign where it finished 52
points off champions Barcelona in ninth, Atletico can transform
this season into one of its most successful with a victory at the
Camp Nou stadium.
"It's something we didn't expect at the start of the season
and its brought us a lot of honor," Argentina striker Sergio Aguero
said after the Europa win, the 21-year-old's first triumph with the
club. "But we're only halfway to the dream."
Coach Quique Sanchez Flores rested most of his regulars -
including strikers Diego Forlan and Aguero - for Saturday's 3-0
defeat to Getafe on the final day of the league campaign.
"There's no favorite," Sevilla goalkeeper Andres Palop said.
"Everything's changed. We've got momentum and we've got to take
advantage."
With both clubs' European spots locked up, a domestic cup
would go a long way to easing troubled domestic seasons which led
both clubs to make coaching changes.
Sevilla promoted Antonio Alvarez to replace the fired Manolo
Jimenez despite him having led the team to its second final in
three years and seventh overall. It beat Getafe 1-0 in 2007.
Atletico, meanwhile, brought in Sanchez Flores for Abel
Resino with the club misfiring in all competitions.
Although Sanchez Flores couldn't salvage poor Champions
League and league campaigns, the former Real Madrid player has
sketched his name into Atletico folklore with these two cup runs,
including rallying from a 3-0 first-leg deficit in the
quarterfinals to advance 5-4 against second-division Recreativo
Huelva.
Atletico beat Barcelona 1-0 in 1996 for its ninth trophy from
17 appearances in the competition.
Both clubs have managed to hang on to its international
players for a few extra days despite World Cup camps gathering in
most parts of the world. But Sevilla's attack will be without
strikers Luis Fabiano (leg) and Alvaro Negredo (suspension).
It is the third cup final to be played at Barcelona's home
ground and first since 1970.
