The new Copa del Rey continues to pick up speed. The 53 winners of the first round of the KO tournament and the two that are still to be decided (the suspended Merida-La Nucía and Pontevedra-Ibiza) already know their new opponents for the next playoff. They will be played on 11 and 12 January, weekend in which LaLiga will not be played as he is released for the Cup and the Spanish Super Cup. This draw, almost as important for modest football as it is the Christmas Lottery draw for the Spaniards, departed several jackpots.
The Levante will have to face Real Jaén, a team that gave the biggest surprise of the first round by eliminating the Alavés (3-1), only eliminated team from the 16 First Division clubs. Also noteworthy is the Basque rivalry, the Sestao receives a historic Cup, Athletic. Leganés will face Murcia and Escobedo, who eliminated Malaga, will receive Sevilla, five times the winner of the KO tournament. Espanyol will visit Madrid to take in San Sebastian de los Reyes.
Of the 13 surviving teams of LaLiga SmartBank, nine fell in the first round (Almería, Sporting, Malaga, Oviedo, Lugo, Numancia, Racing, Alcorcón and Extremadura), include the Cultural-Huesca, Nistic-Zaragoza and the Recreativo-Fuenla, re-editing last year’s playoff game. In addition, Elche will face The Yeclano, who will not participate in the first round because he is exempt due to not being matched with any rival in the previous draw after the expulsion of the Reus.
The draw for the second round maintained the matchmaking criteria of the previous playoff. Smaller teams will face the top-level teams and will always be played on the field of the smallest team, as long as it meets minimum requirements. Valencia, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético are also exempt, who during the week of January 12 will compete in the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia with a final format four. It will be from sixteenths, the next round to which it is sorely around today, when they begin their journey in this new Cup.
Matchups of the First Teams against Third and Second B clubs
Sestao River – Athletic
Jaén – Levante
Real Murcia – Leganés
Escobedo – Seville
Caceres – Eibar
Portugalete – Betis
Ceuta – Royal Society
Zamora – Mallorca
Tamaraceite – Granada
Marbella – Valladolid
Merida-La Nucía winner (suspended) – Celtic
San Sebastian de los Reyes – Espanyol
Badalona-Getafe
Orihuela-Villarreal
Haro Deportivo – Osasuna
Second vs. Second B teams
Badajoz – Las Palmas
Barakaldo – Rayo Vallecano
Winner Pontevedra-Ibiza (suspended) – Albacete
Cultural Leonesa – Huesca
Unionists – Sportsman
Yeclano – Elche
Nistic – Zaragoza
Recreational – Fuenlabrada
Majadahonda – Tenerife
Ebro – Ponferradine
UCAM Murcia – Mirandés
Cartagena – Girona
UD Logroñés – Cadiz