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The draw for the Copa del Rey was made today, and Villarreal finds itself in what I would say is the tougher of the two brackets. The draw in full is:
Mirandés-Deportivo La Coruna
Cádiz-Celta Vigo
Athletic Bilbao-Villarreal
Eibar-Las Palmas
Rayo Vallecano-Atletico Madrid
The first leg will be at the new San Mames, the second leg at El Madrigal.
Our record against Athletic Club overall is good, 15 wins, 8 draws, 10 losses. Two of those losses came in the 2001/02 Copa del Rey quarterfinal (2-0 at home, 1-0 away), the only other time we have met in this competition.
Generally they announce the brackets for the final 16 at the time of this draw, but I have heard this year they are doing it differently and so there will be a new draw after each round, which seems odd given the timing of the remaining rounds. Still, it's not as if the Spanish football authorities have ever done anything....odd...especially where the Copa del Rey is concerned!