Madrid face Cacereño as Barça draw Intercity: Copa del Rey 3rd round draw, as it happened

Cheers for joining us today for the draw and look forward to catching you all again on 6 January when the draw for the Round of 16 will be made. 

Copa del Rey: Third round draw

Which ties catch the eye? 

Both Asturian sides have drawn Madrid based sides with Atleti facing Oviedo and Sporting set to take on Rayo.

Cacereño will feel they have secured the pick of the bunch with tickets set to be at a premium for the visit of Real Madrid.

Barcelona travel to Alicante to face one of the new sides in Spanish football as they take on CF InterCity. 

Reminder... single ties set to take place on 3-4-5 January with the exact times and dates to be confirmed later tonight by the Spanish FA.

the final game sees two top flight sides and it's Espanyol who face Celta Vigo

last side from 2A sees Sporting Gijon and the Asturian side will take on Rayo Vallecano

next tie pits Cartagena who will face Villarreal

next second division side is ... Real Oviedo with the Asturian side set to welcome Atletico Madrid

next game sees.....Levante who will take on Getafe

Next up are the second division sides and Alaves are the first team out with the men from Vitoria to face Valladolid

AD Ceuta will take on ....Elche

next tie pits.... Linares Deportivo and they will face Sevilla in a Andalusian derby

next match-up sees.... Nastic from Tarragona who will take on Osasuna

Pontevedra will take on Real Mallorca

next game is ....Eldense and the side from Elda will take on Athletic Club

next out is .... Logroñes and the side from La Rioja will take on Real Sociedad

next out is .... La Nucia with the side from the East coast set to face Valencia

First name out is.... InterCity from Alicante.... they will face FC Barcelona

Sierra admits that he would have liked his Logroñes side to have faced Real Madrid but would now settle for Barça.

Intercity, Pontevedra, UD Logroñés, Ceuta, Linares, Eldense, La Nucía & Nàstic are the sides representing the third tier of Spanish football and one the seven will face FC Barcelona.

next up, the sides from the 1A RFEF as Logroñes player Jaime Sierra is called upon to assist in this part of the draw. 

next up is CP Cacereño with the 2A RFEF side set to face Real Madrid.

32 teams... 16 games... we're all set with the first side out being .... CD Ibiza who will face Real Betis.

A quick explanation from our presenter this morning on the format of the draw and we should be good to go.....

Grande will select one of the two 2A RFEF sides as will CD Ibiza's Jaume Villar. Villar takes us through how they overcame Cordoba and Eibar in the first two rounds and the building excitement that is growing in the club knowing that they will face a bug gun in the next round in early January.

The guests who will assist this morning are first David Grande (CP Cacereño) who scored the winner against Girona. Grande claims he fancies Real Madrid in the next round.

The Spanish Cup is a far more attractive proposition these days since the two legged ties were done away with upon Luis Rubiales taking over as Spanish FA president.

We've seen major first and round upsets with the likes of Cadiz, Girona and previous winners Zaragoza and Deportivo being dumped out of the competition by lower league sides.

We're live from the Luis Aragones auditorium for the draw for the last 32/3rd round with the four Super Cup sides (Barcelona, Real Madrid, Betis and Valencia) joining the action.

Just a matter of minutes before we go live to the RFEF central auditorium for the 3rd round draw

Copa del Rey key dates in 2023

The third round of the Cup will be played on 3,4 and 5 January 2023. The exact dates and kick-off times will be announced by the Spanish FA late Friday.

All games are single leg ties apart from the semifinals which are staged over two legs.

Round of 32: 3, 4 & 5 January

Round of 16: 18 January

Quarter-finals: 25 January

Semi-final (first leg): 8 February

Semi-final: (second leg): 1 March

Final: 6 May

The draw process ... a reminder

With the regulations stipulating that the lower ranked teams will face teams from the top flight at home, these are the scenarios from today's draw.

-Ibiza Islas Pitiusas and Cacereño will play one of the four Super Cup teams (Betis, Barcelona, Valencia or Madrid)

-The remaining two Super Cup sides will face Primera RFEF teams

-The remaining six Primera RFEF sides will face six LaLiga Santander teams

-The five 2a teams will face opponents from the top flight

-Two LaLiga sides will face off

This morning's draw process

The Spanish FA have improved greatly from previous long-winded cup draws and realise that sharp and snappy is the way to go. Having said that, we'll definitely be in line from some 'chat' this morning and I anticipate representatives from the two x 2a RFEF sides to be in attendance to recount their respective feats in reaching this stage of the competition.  

I'd calculate the whole thing to be over in a matter of 30/40 minutes.  

The venue for the final on 6 May

Once again, the final of the 2022-23 Copa del Rey competition will be held at Seville's La Cartuja Stadium. 

The 57,000 capacity stadium witnessed a 'home' win last season with Real Betis overcoming Valencia after a dramatic penalty shoot-out.

Athletic counting down to Copa draw

Less than 45' before we go live to the HQ of the Spanish Football Federation in Las Rozas (Madrid) for the live draw.

Why have Real Madrid & Barça not played in the first two rounds?

The four sides that will participate in the 2023 Spanish Super Cup next month in Riyadh were given byes from the first two rounds of the Copa which means that LaLiga winners last season: Real Madrid along with runners-up, FC Barcelona join cup holders and beaten finalists (Betis and Valencia) in the Saudi 'Final Four'.

Barcelona remain clear 'kings of the cup'

With 31 Copa del Rey titles to their name, FC Barcelona are very much the dominant side traditionally when it comes to the Copa del Rey. 

The Catalan side head Athletic Club with the Basque side also boasting a rich pedigree in the Spanish Cup with 23 wins.

Real Madrid complete the podium with 'Los Blancos' having won the trophy 19 times with their last win coming in 2014.

Ibiza Pitiusas expectant

The lower ranked of the two Ibiza based sides (UD Ibiza currently play in the second division) will be glued to the usual outlets for today's draw in the knowledge that one of the four Super Cup teams will be heading their way in early January.

Scenes in Caceres !

There were scenes of euphoria at CP Cacereño's Estadio Príncipe Felipe last night following ther 1-0 win over top flight Girona as they will now face one of Betis, Barcelona, Real Madrid or Valencia in the third round,

Real Madrid eye Copa del Rey

The Santiago Bernabeu side have not lifted a Copa del Rey trophy since 2014 and Carlo Ancelotti will hope that this year his side can advance after recent disappointments in the competition.

What you need to know about the draw:

With the regulations stipulating that the lower ranked teams will face teams from the top flight at home, these are the scenarios from today's draw.

-Ibiza Islas Pitiusas and Cacereño will play one of the four Super Cup teams

-The remaining two Super Cup sides will face Primera RFEF teams

-The remaining six Primera RFEF sides will face six LaLiga Santander teams

-The five 2a teams will face opponents from the top flight

-Two LaLiga sides will face off

Thursday's Cup results

Cacereño delivered the main surprise of the night with their 2-1 elimination of top flight Girona in front of a partisan home crowd in Caceres. The side from Extremadura along with Ibiza Pitiusas are the only fourth tier sides remaining in the competition.

Copa del Rey 22-23 dates

Dates for the diary ! The third round of the Cup will be played on 3,4 and 5 January 2023. The exact dates and kick-off times will be announced by the Spanish FA late Friday.

All games are single leg ties apart from the semifinals which are staged over two legs.

Round of 32: 3, 4 & 5 January

Round of 16: 18 January

Quarter-finals: 25 January

Semi-final (first leg): 8 February

Semi-final: (second leg): 1 March

Final: 6 May

Introducing the 32 teams

The pots are divided according to each teams status, as lower league teams are guaranteed to face a top flight side with the two 2a RFEF teams set to play one of the four Super Cup teams (Madrid, Barça, Valencia or Betis). 

Pot 1 (Super Cup teams): Real Madrid, Barcelona, Betis & Valencia.

Pot 2 (LaLiga Santander teams): Getafe, Elche, Villarreal, Mallorca, Athletic, Espanyol, Rayo, Valladolid, Osasuna, Real Sociedad, Sevilla, Celta & Atlético

Pot 3 (Second division sides): Cartagena, Levante, Alavés, Sporting, Oviedo

Pot 4 (Primera RFEF): Intercity, Pontevedra, UD Logroñés, Ceuta, Linares, Eldense, La Nucía & Nàstic

Pot 5 (Segunda RFEF): Ibiza Islas Pitiusas & Cacereño.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of the live draw for the third round of the 2022-23 Spanish Cup with Real Madrid, Barça, Valencia and Betis all entering the competition for the first time this season.

The draw itself takes place at 12:30 CET (06:30 am ET) but will be bringing you the latest news and news on the 32 sides remaining in the competition.