Copa del Rey Round of 16 set

Mea culpa. I was misled by a Wikipedia story (!) into thinking the brackets were set for the next round already, but THIS YEAR it’s not bracket, just blind draws. The team listed first is home first (jan 4), then second is home for the second leg (jan 11).

Las Palmas—Atletico Madrid

Alcorcon-Cordoba

Athletic Club-Barcelona

Real Madrid-Sevilla

Real Sociedad-Villarreal

Depor—Alaves

Valencia—Celta Vigo

Osasuna—Eibar

So basically, the top clubs drew each other. Of numbers 1-7 in the league table, only Atleti (#6) drew a team outside the top group. And the Villarreal-Real Sociedad tie is a juciy one, since the teams are tied on points in the league right now.

But of course a lot of attention will be focused on the rematch of last year’s final (Athletic Club-Barcelona) and what must be the tie of the round, Real Madrid-Sevilla. At least Barcelona will have to work hard in their tie as well, so our match on January 8 will feature two clubs that are in the middle of difficult Copa del Rey matchups.

We could end up with a final eight without either Madrid or Barcelona; we’ll definitely have a second division club in there, and a couple of clubs who aren’t doing well in the league, probably. So while La Real is a tough draw, if we get past them, we could be looking at an easier match to get to the final four. Of course, knowing our luck in blind draws this year, we’ll probably get Sevilla if we do advance....

What do you think about the draw? Endavant Villarreal!!