Atlético Saguntino visit Torrent in the Copa Federación last 32
Atlético Saguntino face Torrent in a single-leg match at San Gregorio this Wednesday, in the last 32 of the Copa Federación (national cup), with a place in the last 16 at stake.
The league derby will have to wait: this Wednesday, Torrent CF and Atlético Saguntino meet in a single-leg tie in the last 32 of the Copa Federación, the national knockout cup that has taken over from the old Copa RFEF. Kick-off is at 20:00 at San Gregorio, the home ground of Torrent CF, and there is no second leg to fall back on: whoever loses tonight is out of the competition immediately, while the winner goes straight through to the last 16.
Both sides arrive at the tie fresh off opening-weekend wins in the Tercera Federación (Spain's fifth tier of national football). Torrent thrashed Español de San Vicente 4-0 on their own ground, with a brace from forward Binu and further goals from Christian Membrives and Adrián Domínguez. Atlético Saguntino, for their part, beat Atlético Levante 2-1 at the Nou Camp de Morvedre, their home stadium in Sagunto: Marc Bonafé put the home side ahead in the 3rd minute and Sergio Magariño doubled the advantage just before half-time, in the 45th; Javi Alonso pulled one back for the visitors in the second half, but it was not enough to prevent Guillem Beltrán's side from taking all three points.
The path to this national stage was not the same for both clubs. Torrent, coached by Berna Ballester, did not qualify directly for the Copa Federación: they first had to come through a three-team mini-tournament played in Picassent against CD Roda and CF Intercity, sealing their place with a narrow 1-0 win over Roda -settled by a goal from Adrián Lois- followed by a 0-0 draw against Intercity that was enough to finish top of that group. Atlético Saguntino, by contrast, secured their spot in the national phase without having to go through that prior regional qualifying round.
Atlético Saguntino are no strangers to occasions like this one either. The club as it exists today was founded in 1922 out of the merger of two historic local clubs, Sagunto C.D. and Cova Club, and as recently as the 2016-17 season it already lifted the trophy in the predecessor of this same competition -back then known as the Copa RFEF- after eliminating Fuenlabrada, a Madrid-based club, in a two-legged final that finished goalless in Madrid before Atlético Saguntino sealed the title with a resounding 3-0 win in the return leg played on home soil in the Valencian region. That precedent places Beltrán's side among the very few clubs in the Camp de Morvedre district (comarca) that have already won a final in this exact format.
Beyond tonight's result, the competition carries an extra incentive that both benches are well aware of: reaching the Copa Federación semi-finals also guarantees a place in the following season's Copa del Rey, Spain's main domestic cup. Beltrán, mindful of that prize, has been keen to praise the solidity his side showed against an Atlético Levante team he rates among the strongest sides in Group VI of the Tercera Federación -a comment that shows just how seriously the coach is taking this cup run alongside the league campaign. The winner of tonight's tie will discover its next opponent in a fresh draw within Group C of the competition, already with one eye on a last-16 tie that would bring the Copa del Rey target a step closer.
The single-leg knockout format, however, leaves no room for a bad night: one off performance would be enough to end the campaign there and then, while a win would keep alive a double objective for Beltrán's squad this season -fighting for the top positions in Group VI of the league and continuing to advance in a cup competition that, round by round, brings lower-division clubs like Atlético Saguntino face to face with opponents from far higher categories. For Atlético Saguntino, the only club from the Camp de Morvedre district still standing at this stage of the national cup, sealing a place in the last 16 would stretch the cup excitement among their fans for a few more weeks, coming just days after they opened their league season with a win that already left the squad and its supporters with a good feeling heading into the new campaign.
According to golsmedia.com, with additional background from Wikipedia on the history of Atlético Saguntino.