5⃣ stories of the day: 🥐 masked Madrid, Valencia stumble, Betis v Atleti | OneFootball

You can't miss the five news stories you need to know to start the day, and Thursday begins like this...

A Masked Real Madrid

The Pintus method returns to the Madrid team following Xabi Alonso's departure and Álvaro Arbeloa's arrival on the merengue bench.

The physical trainer of the whites had been relegated to other roles within the club, but he's back on the field, and one of the first things he has done is return to the mask method.

A Red-Hot Betis-Atlético de Madrid

The Copa del Rey quarter-finals conclude this Thursday with an exciting match: Betis-Atlético de Madrid.

📸 CRISTINA QUICLER - AFP or licensors

The Betis team wants to strengthen their home ground, where they have won all their matches since December 6, when they fell to Barcelona Football Club.

📸 Fran Santiago - 2026 Getty Images

Facing them will be 'Cholo' Simeone's team, which has new faces like Obed Vargas, Rodrigo Mendoza, and Ademola Lookman, and might start one of them for the match, such as the Nigerian.

Valencia Crashes and Real Goes Epic

Real Sociedad staged a tremendous comeback against Alavés after trailing 2-1 in Mendizorroza and after Álex Remiro saved a penalty from Toni Martínez in the 67th minute, which could have meant 3-1. Finally, goals from Guedes and Oskarsson sent the 'txuri-urdines' to their third consecutive Copa semi-final.

Meanwhile, Valencia, with a monumental atmosphere at Mestalla, fell in the last minute against Athletic Club 1-2. The Bilbao team returned to a Copa semi-final after Iñaki Williams scored in the 95th minute. The 'ché' had many opportunities to qualify but did not capitalize on them.

"Sergio Ramos to Sevilla? There's No Money"

In recent days, there were rumors that Sevilla was considering signing Sergio Ramos, currently a free agent, for the center of defense, but for now, it won't be happening.

📸 Fran Santiago - 2024 Getty Images

This was confirmed by Antonio Cordón, Sevilla's sporting director:  "Our priority was the forward, we never considered signing a central defender. With the forward, we've spent everything, there's no more money to register anyone, even though we have a free spot." 

'Habemus' Final in England, Endrick Scores Again, and Inter Wins

Manchester City won 3-1 against Newcastle on Wednesday night to confirm their qualification for the EFL Cup final, where they will meet Arsenal.

📸 OLI SCARFF - AFP or licensors

Meanwhile, in France, Endrick scored another crucial goal for Olympique Lyon's aspirations. The Brazilian unlocked the game for his team in the 80th minute, as until then, Ligue 2's Laval was causing them problems in the Coupe de France.

📸 OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE - AFP or licensors

Finally, in Italy, Inter advanced to the Coppa semi-finals by defeating Torino 2-1 thanks to goals from Bonny and Diouf, while Torino narrowed the gap with a goal from Sandro Kulenovic.

📸 Marco M. Mantovani - 2026 Getty Images

Main image author: ANTONIO VILLALBA

Copyright: REAL MADRID C.F

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.