The 2015–16 Copa del Rey was the 114th staging of the Copa del Rey (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). Going into the tournament, the winners were assured a place for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League Group stage. However, since the two finalists, Barcelona and Sevilla, both qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, respectively by winning the 2015–16 La Liga title and the 2015–16 Europa League, the cup winner's place in the 2016–17 Europa League group stage instead passed to the fifth-place team in La Liga, Athletic Bilbao.
Barcelona entered as the defending champions after winning the 2014–15 edition. They defeated Sevilla 2–0 in the final, winning their 28th title.
Schedule and format RoundDraw dateDateFixturesClubsFormat detailsFirst round21 July 20151883 → 65New entries: Clubs participating in Tercera and Segunda División B gained entry.Byes: Six teams from Segunda División B (Barakaldo, UCAM Murcia, Villanovense, Racing Ferrol, UD Logroñés and Huracán Valencia) received a bye.Opponents seeding: Teams faced each other according to proximity criteria.Local team seeding: Draw of lots.Knock-out tournament type: Single matchCopa Federación qualification: losers qualified for 2015–16 Copa Federación, National phase.Second round9 September 20152265 → 43New entries: Clubs participating in Segunda División gained entry.Byes: One Segunda División team (Zaragoza) received a bye.Opponents seeding: Segunda División teams faced each other.Local team seeding: Draw of lots.Knock-out tournament type: Single matchThird round14 October 20151143 → 32Byes: One team from Segunda División B or Tercera División or a team from Segunda División, which previously didn't receive a bye (Huesca), received one.Opponents seeding: Segunda División teams faced each other.Local team seeding: Draw of lots.Knock-out tournament type: Single matchRound of 32 2 December 20151632 → 16New entries: Clubs participating in La Liga gained entry.Opponents seeding: The seven teams from La Liga which qualified for 2015–16 UEFA competitions, faced the remaining seven teams from Segunda División B and Tercera División.The five Segunda División teams played against La Liga teams.The eight remaining La Liga teams faced each other.Local team seeding: First leg at home of team in lower division.Knock-out tournament type: Double matchRound of 1618 December 20156 January 2016816 → 8Opponents seeding: First leg at home for the team in the lower division.Local team seeding: First leg at home of the team in the lower division.Knock-out tournament type: Double match13 January 2016Quarter-finals15 January 2016 48 → 4Opponents seeding: Draw of lots.Local team seeding: Luck of the draw.Knock-out tournament type: Double match27 January 2016Semifinals29 January 20163 February 201624 → 210 February 2016Final22 May 201612 → 1Single match, stadium TBD by RFEF.UEFA Europa League qualification: winners qualified for 2016–17 UEFA Europa League group stage. Notes Double-match rounds enforced away goals rule, single-match rounds did not. Games ending in a tie were decided in extra time; and if it persisted, by a penalty shoot-out. UEFA Europa League qualification: since the Cup winners, Barcelona, qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, the 5th and 6th ranked teams in 2015–16 La Liga (always excluding no "UEFA licence" and banned clubs), Athletic Bilbao and Celta Vigo, qualified for the Europa League group stage and play-off round respectively.
Qualified teams The following teams competed in the 2015–16 Copa del Rey.
Twenty teams of 2014–15 La Liga:
Almería Athletic Bilbao Atlético Madrid Barcelona Celta Vigo Córdoba Deportivo La Coruña Eibar Elche Espanyol Getafe Granada Levante Málaga Rayo Vallecano Real Madrid Real Sociedad Sevilla Valencia Villarreal
21 teams of 2014–15 Segunda División (Barcelona B was excluded for being a reserve team):
Alavés Albacete Alcorcón Girona Jaén Las Palmas Leganés Llagostera Lugo Mallorca Mirandés Numancia Osasuna Ponferradina Racing Santander Real Betis Sabadell Sporting Gijón Valladolid Tenerife Zaragoza
24 teams of 2014–15 Segunda División B: the top five teams of each of the four groups (excluding reserve teams) and the four with the highest number of points out of the remaining non-reserve teams:
Barakaldo Cádiz Compostela Cultural Leonesa Gimnàstic Tarragona Guijuelo Guadalajara Hércules Huesca Huracán Valencia Linense Lleida Esportiu Melilla Murcia Oviedo Racing Ferrol Real Unión Reus Tudelano UCAM Murcia UD Logroñés Villanovense
Eighteen teams of 2014–15 Tercera División, champions of each one of the eighteen groups (or at least the ones with the highest number of points within their group since reserve teams were excluded):
Algeciras Arandina Ascó Castellón Condal Ebro Formentera Jumilla Laredo Linares Mensajero Mérida Peña Sport Pontevedra Portugalete Rayo Majadahonda Talavera de la Reina Varea
First round The draw for First and Second round was held on 21 July 2015 at 13:00 CEST in La Ciudad del Fútbol, RFEF headquarters, in Las Rozas, Madrid. In this round, 37 teams from 2015–16 Segunda División B and 5 from 2015–16 Tercera División teams gained entry. In the draw, firstly six teams from Segunda División B received a bye and then, the remaining teams in the league and teams from Tercera División faced according to proximity criteria by next groups:
Pot 1Group 1Pot 2Group 2Pot 3Group 3Pot 4Group 4Segunda División B:ArandinaCultural LeonesaCompostelaGuijueloPeña SportPontevedraRacing FerrolRacing SantanderTudelanoUD LogroñésTercera División:CondalLaredoVareaSegunda División B:BarakaldoEbroGuadalajaraMensajeroPortugaleteRayo MajadahondaReal UniónSocuéllamosTalavera de la ReinaSegunda División B:AlcoyanoHérculesHuracán ValenciaLleidaReusSabadellTercera División:AscóCastellónFormenteraSegunda División B:AlgecirasCádizJumillaLinaresLinenseMelillaMéridaMurciaRecreativoUCAM MurciaVillanovense
Barakaldo, UCAM Murcia, Villanovense, Racing Ferrol, UD Logroñés and Huracán Valencia received a bye for the second round.
Second round In the second round teams from Segunda División played among themselves and teams from Segunda División B and Tercera played separately. Zaragoza received a bye for the third round.
Third round Huesca received a bye for the Round of 32.
Final phase The draw for the Round of 32 was held on October 16, 2015, in La Ciudad del Fútbol. In this round, all La Liga teams entered the competition.
Round of 32 pairings were as follows: the seven remaining teams participating in Segunda División B faced the La Liga teams which qualified for European competitions. The five remaining teams participating in Segunda División faced five La Liga teams which did not qualify for European competitions. The remaining eight La Liga teams faced each other. In matches involving teams from different league tiers, the team in the lower tier played the first leg at home. This rule was also applied in the Round of 16, but not for the Quarter-finals and Semi-finals, in which the order of legs was based on the luck of the draw.
Pot 1Segunda División BPot 2European competitionsPot 3Segunda DivisiónPot 4Rest of Primera DivisiónBarakaldoCádizHuescaLinenseReusVillanovenseUD LogroñésBarcelona (TH)Real Madrid Atlético MadridValenciaSevillaAthletic BilbaoVillarrealAlmeríaLeganésLlagosteraMirandésPonferradinaReal BetisCelta VigoDeportivo La CoruñaEibarEspanyolGetafeGranadaLas PalmasLevanteMálagaRayo VallecanoReal SociedadSporting Gijón
Bracket
Round of 32
First leg
Second leg
Round of 16
First leg
Second leg
Quarter-finals
First leg
Second leg
Semi-finals
First leg
Second leg
Final
Top goalscorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Álvaro NegredoValencia5 John GuidettiCelta Vigo Lionel MessiBarcelona MunirBarcelona Luis SuárezBarcelona6 Abdón PratsMirandés4 Alain ArroyoBarakaldo Iago AspasCelta Vigo NeymarBarcelona9 José CutillasVillanovense3 Kevin GameiroSevilla Antoine GriezmannAtlético Madrid Michael Krohn-DehliSevilla Sandro RamírezBarcelona Iñaki WilliamsAthletic Bilbao
References
External links Royal Spanish Football Federation website Copa del Rey at LFP website