A first-time encounter for Barça in the round of 32 of the Cup
The Blaugrana will visit Guadalajara for the first time in their debut in the competition
BarcelonaBarça now knows its opponent for the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey. It will be Guadalajara, who compete in the Primera RFEF and have never faced the Blaugrana before. This was decided in the draw held this Tuesday in Las Rozas. Hansi Flick's team, who entered the competition at this round as one of the four playing in the Supercopa, will begin their title defense on December 17 at 9 pm.
In a draw without any other Catalan teams, Real Madrid was paired with Talavera de la Reina. Meanwhile, the other Super Cup teams, Athletic Club and Atlético de Madrid, will play away against Ourense and Atlético Baleares, respectively. Bernd Schuster, former player for Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atlético de Madrid – clubs with which he won at least one Copa del Rey – conducted the draw.
Draw result
Ourense - Athletic Club
Atlético Baleares - Atlético de Madrid
Talavera de la Reina - Real Madrid
Guadalajara - Barça
Murcia - Betis
Elden Burgos - Getafe
Cultural Leonesa - Levante
Eibar - Elche
Deportivo - Mallorca
Racing - Vila-real
Sporting - Valencia
Sporting - Valencia
Granada - Rayo Vallecano
Albacete - Celta
Alavés-Sevilla
Without Catalan teams
The final 32-second round proved disastrous for the Catalan clubs. All four participating teams were eliminated. The most notable defeats were those of Girona, who were beaten by Ourense (2-1), and Espanyol, who fell to Atlético Baleares (1-0). Meanwhile, Sant Andreu lost on penalties to Celta (1-1, 6-7 on penalties) and Reus were defeated by Real Sociedad (0-2).
Without VAR
In this round of the competition, there is still no VAR, and the referees will use the old system, without the possibility of reviewing questionable plays. Video assistant refereeing will be available from the next round, the round of 16.
When will the round of 32 be played?
The single-leg tie will be played between December 16th and 18th, with the exception of Rayo Vallecano's match, which is postponed until January 6th due to a Conference League fixture. The draw was structured so that the match is always played at the home ground of the lower-ranked team. In the case of a match between two La Liga teams, the match will be played at the home ground of the team drawn first. Qualified teams
17 from La Liga: Barça, Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid, Athletic Club, Osasuna, Mallorca, Alavés, Getafe, Levante, Real Sociedad, Betis, Elche, Villarreal, Rayo Vallecano, Sevilla, Valencia, and Celta.
9 from Segunda División: Huesca, Cultural Leonesa, Sporting, Eibar, Albacete, Deportivo, Racing, Burgos, and Granada.
6 from Primera RFEF: Guadalajara, Eldense, Talavera de la Reina, Real Murcia, and Ourense.
1 from Segunda RFEF: Atlético Baleares.
How did the draw work?
In that round, the four teams participating in the Spanish Super Cup joined the competition, having previously skipped the preliminary rounds (Barça, Real Madrid, Athletic Club, and Atlético de Madrid). Atlético Baleares (Second Division RFEF) was guaranteed to play against one of them. Ourense, despite being in the First Division RFEF, also had that privilege because they had come from the Federation Cup. The other two Super Cup teams would face one of the First Division RFEF teams.