Barcelona and Real Madrid both drew away ties for next month’s Copa del Rey quarter-finals, with the Catalan giants up against relegation-battling Valencia while their Clasico rivals make the short trip across the Spanish capital to Leganes.
Both Spanish giants racked up five goals in their round-of-16 victories, but they enjoyed and endured wildly contrasting performances. While Barcelona convincingly thrashed Real Betis 5-1, Madrid were forced to extra time by Celta Vigo and needed a late brace from Endrick to eventually secure a 5-2 win.
Atletico Madrid breezed past Elche and have been paired with city rivals Getafe in the quarters.
The final tie in the last eight pits Real Sociedad against Osasuna. La Real’s fearsome Basque rivals Athletic Club are the defending Copa del Rey champions, but were knocked out of the competition last week by none other than Osasuna.
There is no time to lose for the Spanish federation when it comes to the scheduling of the Copa del Rey. The quarter-finals are set to be held during the first midweek of February, with ties spread across 4, 5 and 6.
These fixtures come just a week after the final round of league phase matches in the new-fangled Champions League format.
Barcelona are all but guaranteed of a spot in the competition’s last 16, while Atletico are well placed to make it into the knockout stages. Real Madrid, by comparison, have plenty of work to do to ensure that they are still in Europe’s premier club competition by the time the Copa del Rey quarter-finals roll around.
