The Copa del Rey draw on Monday included all of the teams left in the competition, as Supercup entrants Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Club and RCD Mallorca found out their first opponents in the tournament.
With the quartet of sides that are taking part in the Supercup in Saudi Arabia exempt from the first two rounds. Giant killings have already seen Espanyol, Villarreal and Girona put out of the competition by lower league opposition Barbastro, Pontevedra and Logrones. The format will see one-legged ties conducted at home for the lower-seeded sides, who will play the top-seeded sides, until the semi-final stage, when teams play home and away.
The dressing room was emotionally hit after the loss to Real Betis, and Real Madrid's win over Girona further aggravated things. @fansjavimiguel
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 9, 2024
The Round of 32 will take place on the 4th and 5th of January, the Round of 16 follows 10 days later on the 15th of January. The quarter-finals are scheduled for the 5th of February, and the first and second legs of the semi-finals will be on the 26th of February and 2nd of April respectively.
🇪🇸😢 Robin Le Normand speaks up about his head injury: “The injury was very serious, it’s something that you don’t see much in football. We had to be careful. The whole club, my teammates, the medical staff have been very close, they have taken great care of me and I appreciate… pic.twitter.com/Ad6sOtOasK
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) December 9, 2024
Barcelona have been drawn against Barbastro, the fourth-tier side that put out city rivals Espanyol, and the same side they beat 3-1 in January last year. Another of the giant-killers, Pontevedra, will take on Copa del Rey runners-up Pontevedra.
Liga champions Real Madrid will face Club Deportivo Minera, who eliminated Alaves on penalties in the second round last time out. They play in the fourth tier too, and will mean a trip to Murcia for Los Blancos. Copa holders Athletic Club will make a short trip to Logrono to face Logrones, who did for Girona.
More to follow.