On Saturday night, the curtain comes down on the 2022/2023 version of the Spanish Copa del Rey. The final is set to be played at the Estadio de La Cartuja (Sevilla). Real Madrid will be seeking to win the Copa del Rey for the 20th time in their history. Real Madrid won their bitter rivals Barcelona in the semifinals to set up this showdown with Osasuna. Osasuna themselves overcame Athletic Bilbao in the semifinals to reach the finals for just the second time. Real Madrid are coming into this game on the back of a 2-0 loss to Real sociedad in the league. They have already surrendered the league title to Barcelona, and have now got their eyes set on this Copa del Rey and Champions league trophies as the only likelihood for silverware this season. Meanwhile, Osasuna also loss 1-0 to Barcelona in their last outing in the league. I am expecting Real Madrid to win this final by some margin for the following reasons:

Firstly. Real Madrid are not going to retain the La Liga title this year as they are 14 points behind the leaders with five games left to play in the league. This has got them focusing fully on the remaining two Cup tournaments that they are still in. They have shown mentality and their determination to win this tournament time and time again. They were 1-0 down from the first leg of the semifinals against Barcelona. But they went on to beat Barcelona 4-0 in the return leg to overturn the deficit amd beat them on aggregate. They also eliminated Atletico Madrid and Villarreal in the Quarterfinals and round of 16 respectively. These are all very tough opponents. Osasuna navigated their way to the final on a much easier route than Los Blancos.

Secondly. Osasuna themselves are on a bad run of form. They are coming into this game off of the back of successive losses in the La Liga. Their poor form has got them placed on the 9th position in the league table. Their attack has been very blunt lately, as they have managed to score only three goals in their last six outings. They are bound to be very defensive when they come up against Real Madrid, whom they have failed to beat in any competition since 2011.

There is so much gulf in class between the two teams. As masters of winning finals, I see Real Madrid making light work of Osasuna in this final, and they should be winning the Copa del Rey final by at least a two-goals margin.