17.11.2010 17:00
Draw with no seeds and quality teams
Roger Bogunyà
16 teams, 14 from the first division, and just two from the second go into the hat for Thursday’s Copa del Rey draw, which will be held on Thursday at 13.00 at the headquarters of the Federación Española de Futbol in Las Rozas (Madrid).
There are no seeds, so FC Barcelona could be drawn against any of the 15 teams, which range from
Real Madrid to second division Betis and Cordoba.
Draw for rest of competition
Not only will teams know who they will meet in the next round, but the entire bracket will be
decided by this draw, right through to the final. The round of 16 matches will be played on
December 22 and January 5, the quarter finals on January 12 and 19, and the semi finals on January
26 and February 2. That means all teams that reach the semis will play two games a week for the
whole of January.
Tough propositions
The
only top flight absentees are Racing Santander, Zaragoza, Sporting Gijon, Hercules, Real Sociedad
and Osasuna. There are some enticing potential match-ups, including Barça v Real Madrid, which has
not happened in the cup since 1996/97, when Mourinho was a member of staff at FCB, or Barça v
Sevilla, which would give FCB the chance to avenge defeat last year, or Barça v Espanyol, which
would mean two consecutive city derbies over the Christmas period.
The 15 possible rivals
Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Vila-real, Valencia, Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol, Getafe, Mallorca,
Malaga, Almeria, Deportivo, Levante, Betis and Cordoba.