Could the FA Cup Learn from Copa Del Rey's Crazy January?

If you think that footballers in Spain have it easy compared to their English counterparts, then think again. Sure, the relentless pace of the Premier League’s winter holiday programme is unmatched anywhere (and is still equally a source of wonder and bemusement to viewers elsewhere in Europe), but La Liga has picked up the slack pretty quickly.

Spain—like its Iberian neighbour, Portugal—only missed one matchday over Christmas, with the weekend of December 27/28 a fallow one but with fixtures either side. So after what amounted to three or four days of actual holiday for most players before a return to training, January has already placed its demands upon the Spanish elite.

Let’s take the current La Liga leaders, Real Madrid, as an example. Having returned to domestic action at Valencia on Sunday, January 4, they travelled to Estadio Vicente Calderon for a Copa del Rey last 16, first-leg tie against city rivals Atletico on the Wednesday. After playing Espanyol on Saturday, they take on Atletico in the return leg on Thursday. Away matches at Getafe and Cordoba are the minimum to follow before the month is out.

Copa action shapes the whole of the month for its participants. La Liga’s current top seven of El Real, Barca, Atleti, Sevilla, Valencia, Villarreal and Malaga are all in action this week, and teams who emerge victorious this week will have the rest of their Januarys booked up.

The two legs of the quarter-finals will be played immediately, on the weeks beginning January 19 and January 26, making it an intense month. There’s a fortnight of pause until the first leg of the semi-final, with the first-leg matches played on the week of February 9 and the returns on March 2.

It’s a busy schedule, but not one that appears to handicap La Liga’s teams. Since this concept of Crazy January was introduced in 2011-2012, Spain has had one winner, two finalists and six semi-finalists in the Champions League, plus two winners, three finalists and five semi-finalists in the Europa League. The brief break certainly seems to help in terms of mental freshness.

Furthermore, it’s given the Copa a real boost. A month of real focus on a competition that has sometimes been undermined by the proliferation of two-leg ties (although that’s a different discussion) has really uplifted it.

The schedule got off to a flier in January 2012, with thrilling last-16 ties between Real Madrid and Malaga (Jose Mourinho, as per Goal, memorably remarked after the first leg that he’d have substituted his whole team at half-time “if I could”), and between Valencia and Sevilla, as well as little Mirandes’ giant-killing of Racing Santander.

An epic quarter-final between El Real and Barca followed, and Pep Guardiola’s team put away Valencia in a tense semi before beating Marcelo Bielsa’s exhausted Athletic in the final.

Alastair Grant/Associated Press

This blueprint has proved to be a winner. Cup football is supposed to be intense, high-octane and so exciting that you’re perpetually on the edge of your seat. Give or take the odd moment where AFC Wimbledon had Liverpool wobbling, can we really still say that about The FA Cup here in England?

As domestic cup competitions go, The FA Cup’s reputation is unparalleled, but the action rarely matches the legend these days. There is even more excitement across the channel, with the Coupe de France more famous for shocks these days, like the one a few weeks back when fourth-tier Grenoble toppled then-Ligue 1 leaders Marseille on penalties.

The Copa del Rey isn’t perfect, but the Spanish authorities—long criticised for the lack of decisiveness in their scheduling—have hit on a great idea here. The FA should take a leaf out of their book and bring back the thrills to the cup.