Villarreal to play first Copa Del Rey match of the season in December

On December 16th, 2020, Villarreal will play their first Copa Del Rey match of the new season as they take on SD Leioa of the Segunda B. This season’s tournament is an odd one, as it begins before last years Copa has even concluded, with the all-Basque final between Real Sociedad and Athletic Club put off until early 2021 in hopes of being able to have fans present.

The timing of this match will mark the fourth consecutive week with a midweek fixture for Villarreal, as it comes just after the last three Europa League group matches. SD Leioa made reference to our European history as they tweeted about the match:

Following the high successful format of last year’s tournament, this will be a one legged tie and Villarreal will be on the road. Rotating for these early Copa matches is always a complicated decision for the manager, as he tries to calculate exactly how much of his first team talent is needed to see things through. I would consider it fairly likely that we see Yeremi Pino, Alex Baena, and Fer Nino all present in the side for this match, and may even toss Take Kubo out there to complete a front four.

Leioa has, to this point, lost all three of their Segunda B matches so far this season and have yet to even score a goal.

Here are the other Primera division draws:

CD Anaitasuna (Tercera) vs Getafe

CD Marchamalo (Tercera) vs Huesca

CD Ribadumia (Tercera) vs Cádiz

Racing Murcia (Tercera) vs Levante

CD Buñol (Preferente) vs Elche

UD Tomares (División de Honor) vs Osasuna

Racing Rioja (Tercera) vs Eibar

CD Cardassar (Tercera) vs Atlético de Madrid

CD Rincón (División de Honor) vs Alavés

CD Cantolagua (Tercera) vs Real Valladolid

UD Llanera (Tercera) vs Celta Vigo

AD San Juán (Tercera) vs Granada

Terrassa FC (Tercera) vs Valencia

UCAM Murcia (Segunda B) vs Real Betis

CD Ciudad de Lucena (Tercera) vs Sevilla

[It should be noted that I got the list for these matchups from the always good La Liga Lowdown on Twitter]

It’s safe to say that we did not get the easiest draw of this round, but nonetheless this side should not be a problem for us.