Copa del Rey Draw 2016-17: Full Round-of-16 Fixtures and Dates Released

Copa del Rey holders Barcelona were pitted against Athletic Club in Friday’s draw for the last 16 of the competition.

The Blaugrana will visit the San Mames for the first leg of the tie, while the Camp Nou will stage the second leg in a repeat of the 2015 final, which Barcelona won 3-1. Meanwhile, Real Madrid were handed a tough draw against Jorge Sampaoli’s high-flying Sevilla team, with the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Elsewhere, Las Palmas will take on Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid, while Real Sociedad will tackle Villarreal in another eye-catching fixture.

The first leg of each tie will be played on Jan. 3-4, with the return fixtures the following week.

Las Palmas	vs.	Atletico Madrid
AD Alcorcon	vs.	Cordoba
Athletic Club	vs.	Barcelona
Real Madrid	vs.	Sevilla
Real Sociedad	vs.	Villarreal
Deportivo la Coruna	vs.	Alaves
Valencia	vs.	Celta Vigo
Osasuna	vs.	Eibar

Athletic Club vs. Barcelona

Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

The Copa del Rey final between these two sides from 2015 is memorable for numerous reasons. Off the pitch, the Athletic supporters packed out the Camp Nou and conjured a tremendous atmosphere, while on it, Lionel Messi producing a breathtaking goal to help Barcelona secure victory.

Here’s a reminder of the strike, which came at the end of a slaloming run from the right flank from the Argentina man:

It was a classic display from a classic Barcelona team, as they went on to clinch a memorable treble in 2014-15. However, the last time these two sides met over two legs, it was Athletic who came out on top, winning the Spanish Super Cup by an impressive 5-1 aggregate margin in 2015.

The Basque side will fancy their chances of victory again. They’ve enjoyed a solid start to the campaign, sitting in seventh spot.

Barca are in second place, although they have looked a little vulnerable at times this term. However, they still have Messi, and he remains a magician on the pitch, per Squawka Football:

While they’ve done it recently, getting the better of Barcelona over two legs will be a huge test for Athletic. Stemming the influence of Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar for 90 minutes is testing, but doable; stopping them for 180 minutes is practically impossible.

Real Madrid vs. Sevilla

Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

Having proved themselves to be a difficult opponent to get the better of under manager Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid will fancy their chances of clinching the Copa.

Indeed, the boss has added a steeliness to Los Blancos that has helped them go unbeaten in La Liga this season, having clinched the UEFA Champions League at the climax of the previous term; that kind of durability is vital in cup competitions and will be especially important against a Sevilla team who have been magnificent in the final third in 2016-17.

Sampaoli’s men showed their attacking prowess in the previous round of the competition, making their way past Formentera 14-2 on aggregate. 

Per OptaJose, the Andalucian outfit are particularly potent in front of goal at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium:

Madrid will have a plan to contain Sevilla, though. Zidane has no issues shoring up his side in big matches, with the gritty Casemiro so often coming into midfield alongside the likes of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos at the expense of an attacker; it’s a formula that’s served them well so far.

Masashi Hara/Getty Images

While it means Madrid are not quite as cavalier in attack as they have been in recent years, it means the team is strong defensively and thrusts a responsibility on their world-class attackers to win matches with moments of genius. Frequently, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema oblige.

In Zidane, Los Blancos seem to finally have a long-term option in the manager’s seat, too. Bleacher Report UK summed up his brilliant spell in charge:

It’ll be a fascinating couple of matches. Sampaoli is not a coach who will surrender the initiative based on the opponent and will set his team up to attack the European champions over two legs. 

While that could play into Madrid’s hands in terms of counter-attacking, it’ll be interesting to see how they hold out against one of the most inventive and intense teams in the game at the moment.