Monday’s Copa del Rey draw included all the teams remaining in the competition, as Super Cup participants Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Club and RCD Mallorca met their first opponents in the tournament.
With the quartet of teams competing in the Saudi Arabia Super Cup exempt from the first two rounds. Espanyol, Villarreal and Girona have already been eliminated from the competition by lower league rivals such as Barbastro, Pontevedra and Logroñés. The format will include one-match home playoffs for the lowest ranked teams, who will play against the first, until the semi-final stage, when the teams will play home and away.
The locker room was in low spirits after the defeat against Real Betis, and Real Madrid’s victory over Girona made things even worse. @fansjavimiguel
— Barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 9, 2024
The round of 32 will be played on January 4 and 5, and the round of 16 will be played 10 days later, on January 15. The quarterfinals are scheduled for February 5, and the home and away legs of the semifinals will be on February 26 and April 2 respectively.
🇪🇸😢 Robin Le Normand talks about his head injury: “The injury was very serious, it’s something you don’t see much in football. We had to be careful. The entire club, my teammates, the medical staff have been very close, they have taken care of me a lot and I thank them… pic.twitter.com/Ad6sOtOasK
— Universo Atlético (@architetturauniverse) December 9, 2024
Barcelona will face Barbastro, the fourth division team that eliminated city rival Espanyol, and the same team they beat 3-1 in January of last year. Another giant killer, Pontevedra, will face Pontevedra, runner-up in the Copa del Rey.