Athletic Club face Granada in first Copa del Rey semifinal match

MADRID - Athletic Club Bilbao and Granada will face each other in the first semifinal match of the Copa del Rey in Athletic's San Mames stadium on Wednesday night in a game which sees the side that knocked out FC Barcelona take on the victors against defending champions Valencia.

In contrast to the earlier rounds of the Copa, which have been played over one game and produced a host of surprises, the semifinals change format to become a home and away affair, with the return leg in Granada on March 5th.

Both sides go into the game after weekend defeats, with Granada losing 1-0 away to Atletico Madrid on Saturday, while Athletic rested seven players who are likely to start as they lost narrowly 2-1 away to Real Sociedad on Sunday afternoon.

Athletic coach Gaizka Garitano has doubts over the fitness of attacking midfielder Raul Garcia and left back Yuri Berchiche, both of whom are suffering from muscle problems.

There is also a question over who will play in goal for the Basque side: Garitano had given minutes to Iago Herrerin in the Cup. However, Herrerin's second minute red card against Tenerife two weeks ago saw first choice Unai Simon play against Barcelona and the coach will have to decide whether to stick with Simon or play the more erratic Herrerin on Wednesday.

Granada have had a slightly easier run to the semifinals, and although they impressed at home to Valencia, they needed extra time away to get past third tier sides Badalona and Badajoz as well as four tier L'Hospitalet in the first round of the competition.

They currently sit one place below Athletic Club in La Liga with 30 points from 23 league games, but coach Diego Martinez will be worried about their away form, as they has not scored an away goal in the league since November.

Nevertheless, Martinez can count on an interesting pairing in attack where the veteran Roberto Soldado partners youngster Carlos Fernandez and they will be looking for an away goal that would make their task in the return leg a lot easier.

The second semifinal match is on Thursday as Real Sociedad entertain second tier Mirandes, who have knocked Villarreal, Sevilla and Celta Vigo out of the competition.