MADRID, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The return legs of the Copa del Rey's round of 16 ties take place over the coming days, with some games having little at stake, and others with everything still to play for in the battle to reach the quarterfinals.
Tuesday night sees two finely balanced games as Valladolid look to overturn a 1-0 first leg defeat at home to Getafe. How the game pans out may depend on how much importance both coaches place on the competition, with Getafe currently challenging for a place in Europe and Valladolid working to avoid being sucked into a relegation battle.
Valencia coach Marcelino Garcia Toral needs to see his side overturn a 2-1 first leg deficit at home to second tier Sporting Gijon.
Despite a vote of confidence from the club last week, Marcelino's future hangs in the balance after poor recent results and last weekend's 1-1 home draw against Valladolid.
There are three games on Wednesday, with Real Madrid likely to take advantage of a 3-0 lead away to Leganes, while Sevilla should have few problems capitalizing on the 3-1 win they took at Athletic Bilbao a week ago, even though Athletic returned the favor by inflicting a 2-0 defeat on them in La Liga on Sunday.
Atletico Madrid may have to work harder when they entertain Girona, with the tie well-balanced following a 1-1 draw in the first leg.
Barcelona are likely to include Lionel Messi in their side as they look to come back from a 2-1 first leg defeat to Levante.
Barca coach Ernesto Valverde rested several key players in the first leg and saw how Levante at times outplayed a side which included two members of his club's B-team, before a late Philippe Coutinho's penalty gave his side an important away goal. The coach is unlikely to rest so many regulars this time around.
Thursday also sees Real Sociedad, who have won their two league games since Imanol Alguacil replaced Asier Garitano as coach, take on Real Betis with the scores 0-0 after the first leg, while things are also finely balanced between Espanyol and Villarreal, after a 2-2 draw in their first meeting.
