Madrid, Oct 28 (IANS) The Copa del Rey first round continues on Wednesday with five matches involving teams from La Liga, all travelling to face lower league rivals. Elche make a short trip to the region of Murcia to face UD Las Garres, an amateur side from a village of just over 7,000 inhabitants that plays in Spain’s sixth tier in the 1,000-capacity Las Tejeras Stadium.

Villarreal currently sit third in La Liga after winning away to Valencia on Sunday night, but Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side will have a different challenge away to fifth-tier Ciudad de Lucena, from the province of Cordoba in the south of Spain. The 5,000-capacity Ciudad de Lucena Stadium will be packed to the rafters as the home side looks to pull off an unlikely surprise against a rival with a poor record in the annual knockout competition.

Osasuna have to fly to Mallorca to face another amateur side, with CD Sant Jordi awaiting in its 1,500-capacity stadium. Osasuna are the clear favourite, but the Sant Jordi players and fans will know the team from Pamplona has lost all of their away matches this season and travels after a surprise 3-2 defeat at home to Celta Vigo, reports Xinhua.

Atletic Sant Just are one of the lesser-known sides from the city of Barcelona and play at home to 2024 finallist Mallorca, although the fifth-tier side has a handicap as the game has been moved to nearby Hospitalet as its ground doesn’t meet the requirements.

Finally, Rayo Vallecano make the short trip from Madrid to the province of Toledo to face CD Yuncos, a sixth-tier side that represents a town of just over 10,000 inhabitants.

The 2025–26 Copa del Rey will be the 124th staging of Spain’s local knockout cup competition, with the winner assured a place in the 2026–27 UEFA Europa League group stage. Both the winner and the runner-up will qualify for the four-team 2027 Supercopa de España.

The Preliminary Round was played between September 28 and October 1, and in all 125 teams qualified for the first round of the competition. Competitions will be held in six rounds, leading to the final to be played on April 25, 2026, at Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville.

Barcelona are the defending champions, having beaten Real Madrid in the final of the previous edition.

–IANS

bsk/