BARCELONA – The draw for the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey caused the match between the last two finalists, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, who will face a single match in San Mamés.
The clash between the two clubs with the most titles in the tournament (31 titles for the Barça club and 23 for the lions) will be the most outstanding, along with the one that will star in Benito Villamarín Real Betis and Sevilla, in a derby with an uncertain prognosis.
The third most even duel, on paper, will be the one between Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid in San Sebastián, completing the table with the matches Elche-Real Madrid and Mallorca-Espanyol in terms of clashes between First Division clubs, added to Girona- Rayo Vallecano and Sporting de Gijón-Cádiz with the presence of Second Division clubs, and Atlético Baleares-Valencia with a third category team, the only survivor, to complete the picture.
Counting the final of 2021, which the Barça team beat 4-0 in Seville, Barça and Athletic have met in 43 Cup matches since 1920, with 24 victories for the current champion and 13 for the lions, ending the remaining 6 with a draw. . As for qualifying rounds, they met on 16 occasions, with 11 classifications from Barcelona and 5 from Athletic.
As for Real Madrid, it will be the third tie that meets Elche, which they already eliminated in the round of 16 of the 1961-62 season (they won both games 4-3 and 5-1) and in the round of 32 of the 1988-89 season, when they won 1-2 in Elche and drew 1-1 at the Bernabéu.
Round of 16
Atlético Baleares (1st RFEF) -Valencia (1st)
Girona (2nd) -Rayo Vallecano (1st)
Sporting Gijón (2nd) -Cádiz (1st)
Elche (1st) -Real Madrid (1st)
Real Sociedad (1st) -Atlético de Madrid (1st)
Betis (1st) -Seville (1st)
Athletic (1st) -Barcelona (1st)
Mallorca (1st) -Spanyol (1st)
The matches of the teams that do not have to play the Super Cup will be played on January 15 and 16, and for Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic they will be settled on January 18, 19 and 20.
.
We would like to give thanks to the writer of this write-up for this awesome material
Barcelona-Athletic meet again in the Copa del Rey