Cups of Football Kindness

[HibeeJibee]

Noticed the Copa del Rey has a new format this season... instead of La Liga clubs joining at Last 32, plus it being 2-legged to Final, they now join at Last 128 (except the Spanish Supercup participants who still join at Last 32) - and only SFs are 2-legged. Altogether looks very egalitarian.

This makes Spain the latest nation to throw their top division clubs in as early as 6 rounds before the Final. Across the continent Last 32 remains the most common (as it has been in Scotland for many decades) followed by Last 64.

Interesting to see how it breaks-down:

Last 128   (5)
Estonia*, Hungary, Norway, Slovakia, Spain _{(Top 4 enter Last 32)}
^{*some receive random byes}

Last 64   (14)
Austria, Czech Rep _{(CL/EL enter Last 32)}, Denmark _{(Top 6 enter Last 32)}, England, France, Germany, Italy _{(Top 8 enter Last 16)}, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden _{(then groupstage Last 32)}, Switzerland, Turkey _{(Bottom 6 enter Last 128; CL/EL enter Last 32)}

Last 48 with Groupstage - Finland

Last 32   (25)
Albania, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus*, Eire, Georgia, Greece _{(CL/EL enter Last 16)}, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro _{(Top 6 enter Last 16)}, Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia _{(CL/EL enter Last 16)}, Ukraine _{(Top 6 enter Last 16)}, Wales
^{*some receive random byes}

Last 16   (9)
Andorra*, Armenia, Azerbaijan*, Gibraltar, Faroe Islands, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Moldova, San Marino
^{*some receive random byes}

+ Liechtenstein

[Benjamin_Nevis]

The big clubs will probably just play youth/reserve teams until the Q-Fs. 

On a related note, didn't Real Madrid, during their Beckham etc "Galacticos" phase get completely fucked out of the Copa Del Rey by a third division team of amateurs? Alcorcon I think, who have since got up to the second tier. 

[GNU_Linux]

The big clubs will probably just play youth/reserve teams until the Q-Fs. 
On a related note, didn't Real Madrid, during their Beckham etc "Galacticos" phase get completely fucked out of the Copa Del Rey by a third division team of amateurs? Alcorcon I think, who have since got up to the second tier. 

Aye it was AD Alcorcon in 09-10.

[HibeeJibee]

31 minutes ago, Day of the Lords said:

On a related note, didn't Real Madrid, during their Beckham etc "Galacticos" phase get completely fucked out of the Copa Del Rey by a third division team of amateurs? Alcorcon I think, who have since got up to the second tier. 

Alcorconazo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcorconazo

27 Oct 2009 ... Alcorcon 4-0 Real Madrid
10 Nov 2009 ... Real Madrid 1-0 Alcorcorn

[senorsoupe]

4 hours ago, HibeeJibee said:

Alcorconazo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcorconazo

27 Oct 2009 ... Alcorcon 4-0 Real Madrid
10 Nov 2009 ... Real Madrid 1-0 Alcorcorn

Looking at the Real Madrid lineup it was still a strong side with the likes of Benzema, Raul, Van der Vart, Guti etc.. in the starting XI

[craigkillie]

Borja Perez was a very talented player.

[DiegoDiego]

The Coppa Italia is a bit of a joke, eight teams parachuted into the last sixteen, the whole draw is completely seeded, higher seeds are always at home if they progress as expected, only the semi-finals are two legged and the two legs are nearly two months apart.

 

 

[HibeeJibee]

10 hours ago, DiegoDiego said:

The Coppa Italia is a bit of a joke, eight teams parachuted into the last sixteen, the whole draw is completely seeded, higher seeds are always at home if they progress as expected, only the semi-finals are two legged and the two legs are nearly two months apart.

They also rattle through R1-R3 on consecutive midweeks in August... then only play R4 in December.