Round of 32 of Copa del Rey, the Spanish Cup, takes place this week, and it will be the debut for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid and Athletic Club. Those four teams, as they play the Spanish Super Cup in January, are exempt of playing the first rounds of the competition, and only join in the third round.
All matches will be played between Tuesday December 16 and Thursday December 18, with one exemption, the Granada vs. Rayo Vallecano, as the club from Madrid is the only Spanish club in Conference League, playing the final round of the league phase the same day.
Copa del Rey matches on third round
Tuesday December 16
Eibar* - Elche: 19:00 CET, 18:00 GMT
Deportivo* - Mallorca: 19:00 CET, 18:00 GMT
Sporting Gijón* - Valencia: 21.00 CET, 20:00 GMT
Guadalajara** - Barcelona: 21.00 CET, 20:00 GMT
Eldense** - Real Sociedad: 21.00 CET, 20:00 GMT
Wednesday, December 17
Cultural* - Levante: 18:00 CET, 17:00 GMT
Racing Santander* - Villarreal: 19:00 CET, 18:00 GMT
Huesca* - Osasuna: 19:00 CET, 18:00 GMT
Albacete* - Celta: 19:00 CET, 18:00 GMT
At. Baleares** - Atleti: 19:00 CET, 18:00 GMT
Deportivo Alavés - Sevilla: 21.00 CET, 20:00 GMT
Talavera** - Real Madrid: 21.00 CET, 20:00 GMT
Thursday, December 18
Ourense*** - Athletic Club: 19:00 CET, 18:00 GMT
Burgos* - Getafe: 19:00 CET, 18:00 GMT
Real Murcia** - Real Betis: 19:00 CET, 18:00 GMT
Tuesday, January 6
Granada* - Rayo Vallecano: 21.00 CET, 20:00 GMT
*Second divisioon
**Primera Federación (third division)
***Segunda Federación (fourth division)
This stage of the Copa del Rey is exciting as many top teams are paired with smaller teams from third and fourth division. Usually, the results are predictable... but every year there are surprises. Will CF Talavera (Segunda Federación, fourth division), Guadalajara (Primera Federación, third division), Atlético Baleares (third division) find success facing Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid?