Elche’s reward for coming from behind to beat Almeria in the Copa del Rey on Thursday night was a home tie against La Liga leaders Real Madrid.
The draw was conducted at the headquarters of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in Las Rozas (Madrid). It was also broadcast live on TV and radio.
First out of the hat were the 3rd tier outfit Atletico Baleares who were drawn at home to Valencia. To get to this stage Atletico have already dumped out two Primera sides, Getafe and Celta, and although they quite likely had their sights on Real Madrid or Barcelona they can’t be too disappointed with a tie against Los murciélagos (The Bats).
Elche come from behind in Copa del Rey
The two Segunda División sides, Girona and Sporting, were paired at home to Rayo Vallecano and Cadiz and then the small matter of Elche was the next team pulled from the hat. They were paired with one of the plum ties of the round, Real Madrid at the Martínez Valero, with Carlo Ancelotti looking to repeat his trick of delivering the Copa in his first season at the Bernabéu, as he did in 2013-14, the last time Madrid lifted the trophy.
Meanwhile, Barcelona will continue their defence of the title against Athletic in a repeat of last seasons final, a tie that Xavi may have preferred to avoid at this stage of the competition.
The games will be played on either 20 or 21 January.
The winners of the competition 2021-22 will earn themselves a place in the 2022-23 Europa League group stage.
