The Copa del Rey draw

The Liga de Fútbol Profesional was well represented at the draw for the Copa del Rey that took place in the Vicente Calderón Stadium. Javier Tebas, the president of the LFP explained that "being able to play this knock-out round on a weekend is a bonus. The LFP is going to put its all into this tournament because it deserves it, it is wonderful and we are going to work much more with the Real Federación Española de Fútbol in order to come up with more ideas".

The first good news from the draw came for CD Olímpic de Xàtiva, the first club to be drawn and, much to the excitement of its president, Alfonso Rus, its opponent in the fourth round will be Real Madrid CF. The clash was the first to come out of the bag that included teams from the Segunda División B who are to meet Liga BBVA teams involved in European competitions.

The second phase of the draw paired up Liga Adelante teams with Liga BBVA clubs. Highlights see Segunda División leaders, RC Recreativo de Huelva, take on UD Levante, and UD Las Palmas willface UD Almería.

The event ended with a draw for the matches between Liga BBVA teams. One of the most exciting matches thrown up will see a Comunidad Valenciana derby between Villarreal CF and Elche CF.

These fourth round matches will be played at the weekend. The dates chosen for the round are the 6th, 7th and 8th of December for the first leg and the return matches will be disputed on the 18th of December. The last 16 ties will take place on the 8th and 15th of January, the quarters on the 22nd and 29th of January and the semi-finals on the 5th and 12th of February.

The fourth-round pairings for the Copa del Rey are as follows:
(1) CD Olímpic de Xàtiva – Real Madrid CF
(2) Algeciras CF – Real Sociedad de Fútbol
(3) FC Cartagena – FC Barcelona
(4) Club UE Sant Andreu – Club Atlético de Madrid
(5) Real Racing Club de Santander – Sevilla FC
(6) Gimnàstic de Tarragona – Valencia CF
(7) Club Lleida Esportiu – Real Betis Balompié
(8) RC Recreativo de Huelva – UD Levante
(9) Girona FC – Getafe FC
(10) AD Alcorcón – Granada CF
(11) UD Las Palmas – UD Almería
(12) Real Jaen CF – RCD Espanyol
(13) Villarreal CF – Elche FC
(14) Málaga FC – CA Osasuna
(15) RC Celta de Vigo – Athletic Club
(16) Real Valladolid – Rayo Vallecano

Last 16
(A) Winner (16) - Winner (8)
(B) Winner (3) - Winner (9)
(C) Winner (2) - Winner (13)
(D) Winner (11) - Winner (5)
(E) Winner (10) - Winner (12)
(F) Winner (1) - Winner (14)
(G) Winner (6) - Winner (4)
(H) Winner (7) - Winner (15)

Quarter-finals:
Winner (A) - Winner (B)
Winner (C) - Winner (D)
Winner (E) - Winner (F)
Winner (G) - Winner (H)

Semi-finals: 
Winner (A) - Winner (B) / Winner (C) - Winner (D)
Winner (E) - Winner (F) / Winner (G) - Winner (H)