A first-time encounter for Barça in the round of 32 of the Cup

BarcelonaBarça now knows its opponent for the Round of 32 of the Copa del Rey. It will be Guadalajara, which competes in the Primera RFEF and has never faced the Blaugrana before. This was decided in the draw held this Tuesday in Las Rozas. Hansi Flick's team, which entered the competition at this round as one of the four playing in the Supercopa, will begin its title defense between December 16 and 18 in La Mancha. In a draw without any other Catalan teams, Real Madrid was paired with Talavera de la Reina. Meanwhile, the other Supercopa teams, Athletic Club and Atlético de Madrid, will play at the stadiums of Ourense and Atlético Baleares, respectively. Bernd Schuster, former player for Barça, Real Madrid, and Atlético de Madrid – clubs with which he won at least one Copa del Rey – was the one who 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.