Copa del Rey 2023/24 round-of-16 draw: as it happened

Copa del Rey R16 draw

Cheers for joining up today for the latest instalment of Copa del Rey drama as we discovered the match-ups for the next round...

Interesting for Barça as they go to Salamanca and tricky for Real Madrid with the Madrid derby the standout fixture.

From Palma-Santa Cruz

It's an all island duel as Javier Aguirre's Mallorca head to the capital of Tenerife and face the only second tier side left in the competition with this tie set to be a tough test for the side from Palma de Mallorca.

Rafa returns to Mestalla

If Celta are to secure the Copa del Rey in their centenary season, they will have to beat Valencia at their Mestalla home with another emotional return to Rafa Benitez to the ground where he secured a series of titles as manager of Los Che.

Tough test for Ancelotti

Real Madrid make the short journey to the San Blas neighbourhood to face Atletico and despite losing there in LaLiga this season, Madrid will take heart from the corresponding meeting in the 22-23 Copa del Rey where Los Blancos prevailed. 

Barça head to Salamanca

Xavi's men will need to up their game from an abject second half showing in Barbastro on Sunday night with Unionistas only losing one game at their Reina Sofia fortress all season.

A Madrid derby is the standout fixture as is the visit of FC Barcelona to Salamanca .... 

We'll have the definitive kick-off times confirmed by the RFEF tomorrow.

Last game sees, Girona face Rayo Vallecano

Next out is ....Atletico Madrid and they face Real Madrid

Next game will see, Athletic Club and the San Mames side will take on Alaves

Valencia next out, they face Celta Vigo.

Next game will be ...

Osasuna and the finalists last season will take on Real Sociedad

Next up will be games featuring all LaLiga sides....

and next side out is ....Getafe and the Azulones will face Sevilla

An all island duel as the Canary Island side face the side from the Balearics. 

With home advantage, I could see the side from Santa Cruz advance.

Next tie pits CD Tenerife and the Canary Islanders will face Mallorca

Big draw for the 1A RFEF side as they face 31 time winners Barça!!!

First out will be ... Unionistas and the men from Salamanca will face FC Barcelona

Now we have the draw.... hold tight .... here we go....

Spoiler alert....

Don't rule out a report from UD Barbastro where the lower league men from Huesca took Barcelona all the way only falling 2-3.

Final video recap of what happened on Sunday and then... fingers crossed, we should be good to go !

That earlier projection of the whole draw taking 30 mins. looks a little optimistic but this should be the end of the preamble as Suarez recalls his cup with with Atletico.

Next up...Mario Suarez with the former Atletico and Rayo player set to be the other draw assistant.

Mmmm.

15 minutes in and not a ball drawn... The Spanish FA are milking the recap from the weekend's action as they focus on what happened in Aranda del Duero as Real Madrid came to town.

A final video recap of the weekend's highlights and then we should be good to go for some draw action....

that said, we do need another draw assistant!

A reminder that these R16 games will be played next week.... Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.... 16-17 and 18 of January.

Next up is Mario Perez (sporting director at CD Tenerife) who will be one of our draw assistants tonight.

Aitor Sainz is the next guest as the CD Tenerife captain offers his view of progressing to the next stage of the competition.

The Unionistas captain refuses to be drawn in to what side they would prefer in the next round.

Next stop is Tenerife with the Canary Islanders being the other non top flight side to deliver an upset over the weekend in the Round of 32.

Saul, just giving us a brief recap to what happened over the weekend with special focus on Salamanca as they go live to the dressing room at the Reina Sofia stadium where Unionsistas are still celebrating.

We're live in Las Rozas.... Spanish Copa del Rey 2023-34 Round of 16 draw time.

Once again Saul Ramos is our host this evening.

Villarreal boss 'sad and disappointed'

These were the words from Marcelino Garcia Toral, head coach of the Yellow Submarine as the former Europa League winners were dumped out of the cup by third tier side Unionistas.

Round of 32 results

Here's a recap of the results from the weekend's games with Unionistas and Villarreal finally finishing up earlier today with the men from Salamanca winning out on spot kicks.

Lugo 1 - Atlético 3

Espanyol 0 - Getafe 1

Elche 0 - Girona 2

Huesca 0 - Rayo 2

Alavés 1 - Betis 0

Arandina 1 - Real Madrid 3

Burgos 0 - Mallorca 3

Amorebieta 2 - Celta 4

R. Ferrol 1 - Sevilla 2

Castellón 0 - Osasuna 1

Cartagena 1 - Valencia 2

Eibar 0 - Athletic 3

Málaga 0 - Real Sociedad 1

Barbastro 2 - Barcelona 3

Tenerife 2 - Las Palmas 0

Unionistas-Villarreal 1-1 (7-6 on spot kicks)

We're just 15 minutes away from the draw which will be staged at the Luis Aragones function room at the Spanish FA headquarters in Las Rozas (Madrid).

There will be the usual preamble and thoughts on the draw from representatives of the clubs but I anticipate the whole thing to take approximately 30 minutes or so.

Both the Spanish FA and indeed UEFA have learned how to streamline their draw processes recently with not too much in the 'excess' department.

REAL MADRID

Real Madrid’s possible opponents in the Copa del Rey round of 16

BARCELONA

Barcelona’s possible opponents in the Copa del Rey round of 16

Real Madrid's possible rivals

It will be a quick turnaround for Madrid who will be straight back in Copa del Rey action no sooner than they return from Riyadh where they are participating in the Spanish Super Cup along with Osasuna, Barcelona and Atleti. 

Celta eye cup glory in centenary year

The side from Baladios are celebrating their 100th birthday this year and the Copa del Rey offers Rafa Benitez's men the quickest route to silverware who languish at the wrong end of the league table.

Both Copa del Rey 23-24 finalists will qualify for the Spanish Super Cup (which will, once again be staged in Saudi Arabia) with the winners guaranteed a place in the 2024-25 Europa League.

Four Madrid based teams still in the draw

Real Madrid, Atletico, Getafe and Rayo Vallecano are still involved in the competition with the likelihood of a cup game being staged in the Spanish capital high on the cards.

Copa del Rey 23-24: remaining key dates

These are the following key dates for the next rounds of the cup:

Round of 16: 17 January (2024)

Quarterfinals: 24 January

Semifinals (first leg): 7 February

Semifinals (second leg): 28 February

Final: 6 April (Estadio de la Cartuja in Seville)

The Catalan side have lifted the Copa del Rey more than any other side in Spain running out winners on 31 occasions. 

Athletic Club have a fine cup pedigree with 23 wins under their best with Real Madrid completing the podium with 20 titles, the last of which came last year as they beat Osasuna in the final.

When will the next round of ties be played?

The round-of-16 ties, which will be single-elimination matches involving extra time and penalties if necessary, are scheduled to be played on 16, 17 and 18 January 2024.

Exact kick-off times will be confirmed by the Spanish FA within the next 24 hours.

Tenerife win Canary Island derby

The men from Tenerife delivered another of the weekend's few surprises as they beat rivals UD Las Palmas in a heated Canary Islands derby in front of a packed house in Santa Cruz.

Betis dumped out by Alaves

One of the surprise results over the weekend in the Round of 32 was the elimination of 2022 cup winning side Real Betis as they fell 1-0 away to struggling Deportivo Alaves.

How the draw works

There will be three bowls.

Pot 1 - Unionistas

Pot 2- Tenerife

Pot 3 - Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Getafe, Girona, Rayo Vallecano, Alavés

Celta Vigo, Mallorca, Osasuna, Sevilla, Athletic Club, Valencia, Barcelona and Real Sociedad

Unionistas will be drawn against one of the top flight teams as will be Tenerife.

The remaining six games will be ties involving LaLiga sides with a Clasico or Madrid derby all possible.

The spot kick that sealed Unionistas place in the draw

Who are Unionistas?

The sole 2A RFEF survivors are from the city of Salamanca with the club formed by former supporters of the now defunct UD Salamanca who went bankrupt in 2013.

The club are one of Spain's 'futbol pouplar' or fan run clubs and shy away from the financial trappings of the modern game.

The 16 sides by category

Just 2 teams from outside the top flight remain in the competition in the shape of a Unionistas from the 1A RFEF (third tier of Spanish football) and Tenerife from Spain's second tier.

Both these sides will be guaranteed a home draw in the next round.

Copa del Rey: 4th round draw times

The Copa del Rey draw R16 draw takes place at:12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT on 8 January.

This weekend's R32 was the first round of the 2023/24 Copa del Rey where the four Spanish Super Cup sides Barcelona, Osasuna, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid were in action with the two sides from the capital progressing comfortably with Osasuna and Barcelona made to sweat against Castellon and UD Barbastro respectively.

The 16 sides still in the competition

Real Madrid

Atlético Madrid

Getafe

Girona

Rayo Vallecano

Alavés

Celta Vigo

Mallorca

Osasuna

Sevilla

Athletic Club

Valencia

Tenerife

Barcelona

Real Sociedad

Unionistas de Salamanca

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Round of 16 draw for the 2023-24 Copa del Rey as the 16 remaining sides discover their rivals in the next round.