The next round of the Spanish Copa Del Rey Round kicks off this week with a very interesting landscape. Upsets and near losses in the previous round for major hitters in the tournament have completely made the next round unpredictable. Here are some of the big matchups in the Copa Del Rey Round of 16.
RC Deportivo La Coruña vs Atlético Madrid
It’s a battle between two historic clubs: one that ruled Spanish soccer for a brief spell, and another that constantly tries to disrupt the dominance of the big two.
Atlético come off a hard fought defeat to Real Madrid in the Supercopa de España semifinal in a match filled with tension and controversy. Diego Simeone got involved, taunting Vinicius Jr and provoking him. He apologized in the press conference ahead of this match, but he and his team will want to respond strongly.
Atlético’s only defeat in their last seven matches was that Supercopa semifinal. Before that, they had lost to Barcelona in the league. They currently sit fourth in La Liga, three points behind Villarreal.
Deportivo, meanwhile, have not won in their last three matches. Their last victory in all competitions came against Mallorca in the previous round of the Copa Del Rey. They sit fifth in the La Liga 2 table, just four points off first place.
These two teams have faced each other six times in the Copa del Rey. Twice in the semifinals and once in the round of 16, just like this tie. The results have been four draws and two wins for Atlético Madrid, and in every case Atlético advanced.
This should be comfortable for Diego Simeone’s side.
Albacete Balompié vs Real Madrid
Wednesday, January 14 @ 3:00pm ET
Albacete, which includes former Real Madrid player Jesús Vallejo, will host the current Copa del Rey runner up at the Carlos Belmonte Stadium. Real Madrid defeated Talavera in the round of 32 with a win at El Prado and now face another team from the same region. Vallejo, however, might not feature against his former club due to injury.
Xabi Alonso and his men only managed a narrow 3-2 win over third division side Talavera in the previous round and are yet to find consistent form. Something seemed to click for Los Blancos against Real Betis, but the recent loss to Barcelona in the Supercopa de España final has undone that progress. And with Alonso no longer part of Madrid, this fixture will be tricky.
Having already missed out on one domestic trophy, new manager Alvaro Arbeloa needs to make sure the team fights for the Copa Del Rey properly. Real Madrid are twenty time winners of the competition, but in recent years they have not treated it as a priority. Last season, they lost the final to Barcelona in extra time.
Real Madrid have faced Albacete on fourteen previous occasions and have never lost to them. Albacete currently sit seventeenth in the La Liga Hypermotion table but have beaten teams like Leganes and Celta Vigo during their Copa Del Rey run.
Albacete will need to take advantage of Real Madrid’s low morale and fatigue after the Supercopa if they want a result. As this tournament has already shown, no team is immune to upsets, and if Albacete pull this off, it will go down in history.
Racing Santander vs FC Barcelona
Thursday, January 15 @ 3:00pm ET.
The leaders of La Liga clash face to face in a match at El Sardinero, home of La Liga 2 (a.k.a La Liga Hypermotion) leaders Racing Santander. Racing caused one of the major upsets of the previous round, knocking out high flying Villarreal CF.
The Blaugrana struggled more than expected at the home of modest Guadalajara in the previous round. They did not manage to break through the opposition’s defense until the 76th minute through Christensen. Rashford sealed the victory in the 90th minute, but it was not a confident Barcelona performance. A few more hiccups and they could have found themselves on the wrong end of an embarrassing upset.
The two sides have faced each other six times in the Copa del Rey. Interestingly, their first encounters were also their first two meetings ever, in the first round of the 1928/29 season, where Barcelona advanced. Then came the round of 16 in 1949/50. Barcelona won the first leg, while Racing won the second leg and progressed to the next round. In 1952/53, Barcelona reached the semifinals. Barcelona also advanced two years in a row in 1964/65 and 1965/66. The most recent meeting was in the round of 16 of 1988/89, where the Catalans prevailed again.
Hansi Flick’s men are on a roll after ten victories in a row, including a Supercopa de España triumph over Real Madrid. They are clear favorites to go through.
Copa Del Rey Round of 16: Other Fixtures
- Tuesday January 14 (all kickoffs at 3:00pm ET)
- Cultural Leonesa vs. Athletic Club
- Leonesa aren’t one of the strongest second tier sides, but they already defeated one La Liga side (Levante) in the last round.
- That said, they should be easily handled by an Athletic Club side looking to redeem themselves after a 5 – 0 loss to Barcelona in the Supercopa.
- Real Sociedad vs. Osasuna
- This is the third consecutive year these two La Liga sides have met in the Copa del Rey.
- Sociedad have the slight edge in H2H matchups with 5W 1D 4L.
- Cultural Leonesa vs. Athletic Club
- Wednesday January 15 (all kickoffs at 3:00pm ET)
- Alavés vs. Rayo Vallecano
- The Vitoria-based club Alavés are historically at the disadvantage, having lost 7 of the last 10 matches against Rayo Vallecano.
- Real Betis vs. Elche
- This is the third all La Liga matchup of this round.
- Alavés vs. Rayo Vallecano
- Thursday January 16 (all kickoffs at 3:00pm ET)
- Burgos vs. Valencia
- The last time these two met in the Copa del Rey Valencia won 10 – 0.
- Burgos vs. Valencia
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