After a day of great gifts from the Three Kings, and financial illusions in the Children’s Lottery, today comes the real draw, the one for the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey (today, 1:00 pm). And he does it with an awesome presentation poster. Rayo is the only one missing from the top eleven in the Santander League.
Directed draw, but less
There will be a total of 12 teams in the First Division, three Second Division, and the big surprise, Ceuta, as the only representative of the First Division RFEF. In fact, it is the outstanding bottom of the two groups, with only seven points, but it ‘charged’ Elche and Ibiza to get here. Levante, Sporting and Alavés, representatives of silver football, left Getafe, Rayo and Valladolid, respectively, in the previous round. The remaining teams in the First Division are: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético, Betis, Villarreal, Sevilla, Valencia, Mallorca, Osasuna, Athletic and Espanyol.
The draw operation becomes easier than the previous rounds. Low-ranked teams will appear first, in tier order from bottom to top, and will be paired with random Primera teams. There are no more Super Cup privileges like in the previous draw, or European competition like before.
Anoeta becomes an option
Therefore, Real will be able to face any of the other 15 teams classified for this stage. There could be a derby against Athletic, a rematch against Betis, or a trip to the Camp Nou, for example. What is certain is that if Real meet Levante, Sporting, Alavés or Ceuta, they will play at home. In other cases, the home team will be determined by the order in which the balls are released. The first will act as the host.
The tie will be played during the week, on the 17th, 18th or 19th. The League has not yet published the schedules for matchday 17 where Real visit Rayo on the weekend of January 21-22, so the Cup match, considering that the Basque derby is on Saturday th -14, can be on any of the three days.
THE KEYS
The wishes
1. Levante, Sporting, Alavés and, above all, Ceuta are the teams in the lowest category.
Anoeta
2. With 11 possible first opponents, playing Anoeta is a real option. Whoever comes out first will play at home.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
