Spain’s cup competition has become less bloated and less predictable this season. Other countries should take note
By Mark Sochon for These
Football Times
The widely accepted narrative seems to be that domestic cup competitions are in the doldrums. Many have lost the old magic and are struggling to stay relevant in an increasingly crowded football calendar. That was certainly the case for the Copa del Rey before it was radically transformed this season. So far, the early signs are encouraging.
Even though the Copa del Rey is the oldest football competition in
Spain, predating La Liga by 26 years, it has never carried quite the same sense of tradition of the FA Cup. Nor has it previously been inclusive enough to allow for the type of Cinderella stories that are relatively common in the Coupe de France. Two-legged ties, seeding and a format that ensured only 12 lower league sides would remain by the time top-flight clubs entered made it almost impossible for smaller clubs to progress to the latter rounds. Last season the round-of-16 was made up of 15 top-flight clubs and Sporting Gijón, who had only dropped down into the Segunda División a couple of years earlier. Not since 1980 – when
Real Madrid bizarrely met their reserve team – has a lower division side reached the Copa del Rey final.