4th-tier Arandina will face Real Madrid in Copa del Rey, send a BOLD wishlist to the Madrid giants

4th-tier Arandina will face Real Madrid in Copa del Rey, send a BOLD wishlist to the Madrid giants

Arandia sent a request to Real Madrid for the shirts of some players. (Images via Eurosport)

The beauty of domestic cup competitions is that teams from the lower tiers of the football pyramid play with the greatest teams out there. Let it be the FA Cup, DFB Pokal, or the Copa Del Rey, there’s a chance these amateur footballers have a chance to play against some of the best players in their country. Some even look up to these players, waiting for the moment to meet and play against their heroes. 

And that’s exactly what happened in the Copa del Rey. Tercera Division (4th division) side Arandina are going to host giants Real Madrid in their 6000-seater Estadio El Montecillo. Fans and the players were excited that they would have legends and icons of the game at their stadium. Ahead of the game, the club sent Madrid a very interesting list. 

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Arandina have sent Real Madrid a list of their players and which player’s shirt they wanted. According to Marca, the 22 players had each informed who’s shirt they wanted and Arandina requested Los Blancos to provide it.

FS Video

Out of the 22 players, the most in-demand player was Luka Modric, who is currently close to leaving the club in the summer. Nine players wanted his shirt, while the 2nd most popular was Jude Bellingham with 3 requests. Two players wanted Rodrygo’s shirt, while one even requested for Nacho’s shirt. 

Arandina CF, since 1987 

Arandina CF was formed in 1987 after the former SD Gimnastica Arandina had to be dissolved. They play in the Estadio El Montecillo, a 6000-seater stadium in Castille and Leon. The squad has only 22 players, with a maximum of 3 overseas players. 

Arandina
Arandina beat Alaves 2-1 in the previous Copa del Rey round. (Image via Marca)

The origin of the club dates to 1918, when students in the area of Aranda de Duero formed their own football club. After each period of the year, most clubs kept dissolving and getting replaced. It continued till 1948, when SD Gimnastica Arandina were formed. The club mostly participated in the 4th and 5th tier of the Spanish pyramid. They did manage to get to the third tier but got relegated the very next season. The club then wore black and white colors. 

After SD Gimnástica Arandina dissolved in 1987, Arandina CF were formed and replaced their colors with blue and white. Their best result since then has been when they finished 15th in 2 B, the 5th tier of the pyramid in 2015/16. Arandina recently qualified for the 4th tier and are now in the round of 32 in the Copa del Rey, facing Real Madrid. They beat Cadiz in the Round of 64 to face reach the next round.  

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