Aritz Aduriz: 'We're a Bit Sick of Seeing Barcelona and Real Madrid Win It All'

Athletic Bilbao's Aritz Aduriz has hailed the new Copa del Rey format and said other clubs are "a bit sick of" Barcelona and Real Madrid winning everything. 

Both Barca and Real were knocked out the Copa in the quarter-final stage, by Athletic and Real Sociedad, respectively, leaving an unexpected last four in Spain's domestic cup competition:

The 2019-20 campaign is the first year of the tournament's new format, where ties are played across only one leg up to the semi-final stages.

As a result, there have been more shocks, including Atletico Madrid's third-round exit to third-tier Cultural Leonesa.

Aduriz, 39, believes the changes have been good for the tournament, per Panenka magazine (h/t the Evening Standard's Ben Hayward):

"The cup has not lost prestige, on the contrary. It has acquired more worth. We're a bit sick of seeing Barca and Madrid win it all. It's great to see competitions with more dynamism. In England, you see it. It's enriching. People like the new format."

As a result of the quarter-final upsets, neither Real nor Barca will feature in the Copa del Rey final this year for the first time since 2010, when Sevilla beat Atletico Madrid.

In the intervening nine seasons, Spain's two biggest clubs have combined to win the tournament seven times, with Barca winning four in a row from 2015.

That run was ended last season when the Blaugrana lost in the final to Valencia.

Los Che were knocked out the 2019-20 tournament in the last eight by Granada, while second-tier Mirandes made it through to the semis by beating Villarreal:

In previous seasons, there would have been a second leg for the underdogs to navigate, but the new format has made for one of the most refreshingly unexpected semi-final lineups in recent memory.