What happens in case of a tie in the Copa del Rey round of 16?

Real Madrid and Barcelona put in contrasting performances in the 2024 Spanish Super Cup final, with Vinícius Júnior bagging a hat-trick as Carlo Ancelotti’s side lifted the trophy with a resounding 4-1 win over the Catalans in Riyadh. Spain’s “big two” will now - on paper at least - face contrasting challenges as they take part in the Copa del Rey round of 16.

Second of three Madrid derbies in three weeks

If Atlético and Real Madrid weren’t already sick of the sight of each other, they surely will be by 4 February, when they play each other for the third time in a little over three weeks. Los Blancos came out on top after extra time in a thrilling Super Cup semi-final a little over a week ago, but Diego Simeone’s side have an immediate opportunity for revenge when they host their city rivals in the cup on Thursday.

Atleti won the first league meeting of the season at the Metropolitano and the likelihood is there won’t be much to separate two of Europe’s top teams when they go head to head once again.

Unionistas hoping for huge cup upset against Barça

Barcelona, on the other hand, will be expected to post a comfortable victory over Unionistas de Salamanca, a fan-run club who play at the 4,750-capacity Estadio Reina Sofía in the Spanish third tier. That, of course, will present challenges in itself, with Xavi Hernández’s team not exactly going into the cup tie in great shape after their Clásico humbling and poor performances stretching back several months.

Unionistas disposed of LaLiga’s Villarreal on penalties in the last round of the Copa del Rey only 10 days ago and have recent experience of playing David to Goliath when they hosted Real Madrid in January 2020, ultimately losing 3-1 having been level with 30 minutes left to play. So perhaps it might be closer than we think…

Cup ties to be decided on the day

If that is the case and the teams are tied at the end of 90 minutes, 30 minutes of extra time will be played, consisting of two 15-minute periods. If there is still no winner, a penalty shootout will then follow. Whatever happens, there will be a winner on the day, with the draw for the quarter-finals due to take place on Friday (19 January, 7:00 a.m. ET).

When are Thursday’s Copa del Rey round-of-16 games?

You will be able to follow live text coverage of Unionistas-Barcelona, Atlético-Real Madrid and the draw for the quarter-finals on AS USA.