Copa Del Rey Upsets Highlight the Quality of Spanish Soccer

Copa del Rey upsets – oh how we love them! We love Cupsets in general, and there were a fair few in Spain this week. The Round of 32 in the Spanish Copa Del Rey saw a large number of upsets, more than usual. La Liga sides fell to hopeful lower-division teams, the Big Three stumbled and had to fight for their victories, and much more unfolded.

Copa Del Rey Upsets #1: Racing Santander Eliminate Villarreal

In our Copa Del Rey Round of 32 preview, I said that expecting Villarreal not to progress further would be unrealistic. I bite my tongue and admit my mistake. The biggest shock of this round was that high-flying Villarreal, third in the La Liga table, were eliminated by Segunda Division leaders Racing Santander.

Racing started the game flying… or rather, racing. Juan Carlos Arana struck twice in the first half in the 5th and 27th minutes, leaving Villarreal chasing the game. Villarreal’s late response through Ayoze Pérez in the 85th minute gave Marcelino’s men some hope, but Racing held firm to secure one of the biggest upsets of the entire round. Villarreal controlled possession but struggled to convert their scattered dominance into clear chances, a recurring issue Spanish media have increasingly highlighted in recent weeks.

Racing Santander became only the third Spanish team to beat Los Amarillos this season, after Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. Such has been Villarreal’s dominance so far this domestic campaign.

Copa Del Rey Upsets #2: Albacete knock out Celta Vigo on penalties

In another Segunda versus Primera Division clash, the lower-ranked side prevailed again. Celta Vigo arrived as favourites and largely controlled long stretches of the match, but control without end product is a dangerous state in knockout soccer.

Albacete struck first, with Jefté Betancor opening the scoring in the 17th minute. Celta Vigo chased the game until Yoel Lago equalised with a header in the 63rd minute, followed by Borja Iglesias’ strike eleven minutes later. Celta looked certain to avoid an upset until former Real Madrid player Jesús Vallejo headed past the Celta goalkeeper to take the tie into extra time.

Despite the late shock, Celta still had a strong group of penalty takers. But to everyone’s horror, Os Celestes missed all three of their attempts. Oscar Mingueza, Hugo Alvarez and the man who never misses, Iago Aspas, consecutively threw away their penalties. Meanwhile, Antonio Puertas, Riki and Jesús Vallejo calmly converted theirs to give Albacete a famous victory.

Copa Del Rey Upsets: The Worst Of The Rest

Levante Hit Rock Bottom

Cultural Leonesa’s elimination of Levante may not have produced the loudest headline, but it was one of the round’s purest Copa upsets. Levante travelled to León expecting progression. But a goal from Tresaco, assisted by Paco Cortés, was enough to secure a ticket to the next round for the Segunda Division side.

Levante would feel hard done by, with a string of unfortunate incidents. A disallowed goal by Kervin Arriaga, a shot off the crossbar by Pampín in the final moments, and injuries to Koyalipou and Nacho Pérez were just some to name. 

Levante started aggressively, applying high pressure to disrupt Cultural’s risky build-up play. But Cultural Leonesa kept denying Levante rhythm through aggressive midfield pressure and compact defensive spacing. The only goal came in the 11th minute, and from there Cultural Leonesa shifted into a pragmatic but effective defensive posture.

Levante currently sit last in La Liga and are operating under caretaker coach Álvaro del Moral. Even so, more resistance would have been expected.

Mallorca Pay The Price

RCD Mallorca were also eliminated at the iconic Riazor Stadium by two-time Copa Del Rey winners Deportivo La Coruña. The former La Liga champions have not played first-division soccer for some time and rarely trouble top-flight opponents these days.

Noah Carrillo, a youth academy product making his debut, scored the decisive goal in the 84th minute to send Depor into the Round of 16 after a ten-year absence. For Mallorca, it was clear the cup was not a priority. The complete exclusion of Vedat Muriqi underlined that their only objective this season is La Liga survival, where they sit 14th. There will be no deep cup run this time for Las Piratas, who were runners-up in the 2024 tournament.

Getafe Taken Apart

Bordalas-ball also crumbled as Getafe fell to Segunda side Burgos CF 3-1. Alex Sancris scored a stunning opener, before a penalty from David Gonzalez and a brace from Iñigo Córdoba completed a spectacular comeback. 

Perhaps old man Jose should have brought back his iconic haramball tactics that he infamously displayed against fourth division side Pontevedra in the Copa del Rey last season (which they won 1 – 0)

Copa Del Rey: Giants Nearly Stumble

The Round of 32 also produced near-upsets that will make coaches lose sleep. Real Madrid were pushed to the edge by CF Talavera de la Reina, a third-division side that twice dragged Los Blancos back into the contest before falling 3-2. Kylian Mbappé’s goals and late composure secured progression, but the wider narrative remains uncomfortable for Xabi Alonso. Questions around rotation, team cohesion and the manager’s ability to stabilise the game persist.

Barcelona experienced their own scare against CD Guadalajara before late substitutes settled the tie. The Catalans struggled on a difficult artificial surface and only found control in the final quarter to win 2-0.

Atletico Madrid were rescued by rotation goalkeeper Juan Musso. Los Colchoneros scraped a 3-2 win against fourth-division Atletico Baleares. Musso made seven crucial saves, including stopping Joan Tovar’s penalty in the 80th minute. Antoine Griezmann scored a brace but was otherwise subdued. Without Musso’s heroics, Atletico may have been the round’s biggest scalp.

Athletic Bilbao also needed extra time to overcome third-division Ourense, with Mikel Jauregizar scoring the winner in the 105th minute.

Oh cupsets, never stop delivering.