Copa del Rey quarter-final draw: bad news for boss Xavi and Barcelona

This Thursday the last matches of the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey were played. There, Barcelona had to work harder than expected to beat Unionistas de Salamanca, a team from Spain's third division. Later, Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid played out one of the best matches of the year: they drew 2-2 after 90 minutes and in extra time Los Colchoneros won 4-2 to eliminate their historic rivals.

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With the eight teams already qualified for the next phase, the draw for the quarter-final matches was made this Friday. As in previous rounds, it will be a single match at the stadium of the team that came first in the draw.

Barcelona had been lucky in the previous rounds, as they faced much lower quality opponents such as Barbastro (fourth division club) and Unionistas de Salamanca. But that is over. This time they will have a very difficult challenge: they will have to visit Athletic Bilbao at the Nuevo San Mames stadium. Los Leones are currently one of the best teams in Spain, in third place in the standings with 41 points, the same amount as Los Blaugranas. In addition, both clubs are the biggest winners in the history of the Copa del Rey.

The other outstanding match will be between Atlético Madrid and Sevilla. They will face each other at the Civitas Metropolitano stadium, looking for a place in the semifinals. And finally, the other two duels will be between the surprising Girona, leaders of the La Liga standings, and Real Mallorca; while Real Sociedad will visit Celta in Vigo.

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They will have little time to rest

This weekend La Liga will resume with the 21st matchday. The most important matches will be on Sunday: leaders Girona will face Sevilla, Barcelona will visit Real Betis and Real Madrid will play against Almeria. In addition, on Monday Atlético Madrid will face Granada. And just a few days later, next week, the four quarter-final matches of the Copa del Rey will be played, so those teams will have very demanding days.