El Gordo returns to Alcoy

They are already here. They are not magicians, but yes They are the Kings of the Copa del Rey. Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Atlético and Athletic make their debut in the KO tournament this season. In Alcoy the draw was lived with the same enthusiasm as when the Niños de San Ildefonso are seen to draw the numbers of the Christmas Lottery. Y is that Alcoyano has taken the Fat, the Fat Man of the Cup. Real Madrid, leader of LaLiga. Again and what brings bad memories to whites. The other great prizes were distributed by different areas of Spain. Barcelona will visit Linares; Atlético, at Majadahonda; and Athletic, to Mancha Real.

The sixteenth, which They will be played on January 4, 5 and 6 as a single match, they are a special round. The tournament is starting to get complicated. Enter the four most successful clubs in the tournament: Barcelona (31 titles), Athletic (23), Real Madrid (19) and Atlético (10). All four make their debut in the competition after the first two rounds were exempt as a prize for qualifying for the Spanish Super Cup. They finished passing the round without playing and now they have to put on their boots against four ‘giant killers’ in sixteenths. Four modest clubs that heroically eliminated First and Second Division teams in the last tie. It was like that because the draw was still not pure: it was conditioned by giving the Super Cup the privilege of facing the most modest who were still alive. Yes indeed, They will have to act as visitors traveling to the stadium of the lower category rival in a round that will continue without the VAR.

The draw, held in the Ciudad del Fútbol de las Rozas, featured the innocent hands of Fernando López, Atlético Mancha Real goalkeeper, Jordi Roger, Atlético Baleares technical secretary, Miguel Linares, sports director of Linares Deportivo and Óscar Carazo, director Majadahonda sports car. Laying great duels. Barcelona, ​​current champion of the Copa del Rey, will face Linares, who defeated Alavés 2-1. Real Madrid, current leader of the First Division and seeking to break a seven-season streak without winning the KO tournament, will have to go to Alcoy, whose team already eliminated them last season; Atlético de Simeone will face a Rayo Majadahonda who defeated Málaga 1-0; and Athletic, runner-up in the last two editions and current Spanish Super Champion, will face Mancha Real, a lower category team (Second RFEF) that has just eliminated Granada. The modest fifth was Atlético Baleares, which gave Getafe a hand, and will now host Celta. The rest of the duels are already with a professional flavor, since they face First against Second Division teams: Valladolid-Betis, Almería-Elche, Mirandés-Rayo Vallecano, Cartagena-Valencia, Sporting-Villarreal, Eibar-Mallorca, Fuenlabrada-Cádiz, Leganés-Real Sociedad, Girona-Osasuna, Ponferradina-Espanyol and Zaragoza-Seville.

Sixteenth pairings

The draw was not pure, since it was conditioned so that the most modest were measured against the largest. In this way, the result of the ceremony left the following crosses:

Modest against Super Cup clubs

Mancha Real – Athletic

Rayo Majadahonda – Athletic

Alcoyano – Real Madrid

Linares – Barcelona

A First RFEF against a First Division

Atlético Baleares – Celta

Second Division teams against First Division clubs

Valladolid – Betis

Almeria – Elche

Mirandés – Rayo Vallecano

Cartagena – Valencia

Sporting – Villarreal

Eibar-Mallorca

Fuenlabrada-Cádiz

Leganés-Real Sociedad

Girona-Osasuna

Zaragoza-Seville

Ponferradina-Spanish

Dates of the qualifying rounds of the Copa del Rey 2021-22

Sixteenth: January 4, 5 and 6.

Eighths: January 15-16 (January 19 for Super Cup participants).

Rooms: February 2nd.

First leg of the semifinals: February 9.

Round of semifinals: March 2nd.

Final: April 23rd.