| Copa del Rey | |
| Year: | 2018–19 |
| Country: | Spain |
| Date: | 5 September 2018 – 25 May 2019 |
| Num Teams: | 83 |
| Champions: | Valencia (8th title) |
| Runner-Up: | Barcelona |
| Matches: | 112 |
| Goals: | 293 |
| Top Goal Scorer: | Ángel Karl Toko Ekambi (5 goals each) |
| Prevseason: | 2017–18 |
| Nextseason: | 2019–20 |
The 2018–19 Copa del Rey was the 117th staging of the Copa del Rey (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The winners were assured a place in the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League group stage, and both they and the runners-up automatically qualified for the four-team 2019–20 Supercopa de España.
Barcelona entered the competition as four-time defending champions in an attempt to conquer an unprecedented fifth consecutive title. The Catalans reached the final for the sixth time in a row, but were beaten by Valencia 2–1 who achieved their eighth title overall and the first since 2008.[1] [2]
| Round | Draw date | Date | Fixtures | width=50 | Clubs | Format details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round | 18 | 83 → 65 | New entries: Clubs participating in Tercera and Segunda División B gained entry. Byes: Five teams from Segunda División B/Tercera received a bye. Opponents seeding: Teams faced each other according to proximity criteria. Local team seeding: Draw of lots. Knock-out tournament type: Single match Copa Federación qualification: losers qualified for Copa Federación, National phase. | |||
| 22 | 65 → 43 | New entries: Clubs participating in Segunda División gained entry. Byes: One team from Segunda División B or Tercera received a bye. Opponents seeding: 22 Segunda División teams faced each other. Local team seeding: Draw of lots. Knock-out tournament type: Single match | ||||
| Third round | 11 | 43 → 32 | Byes: One Segunda División team received a bye. Opponents seeding: Ten Segunda División teams faced each other. Local team seeding: Draw of lots. Knock-out tournament type: Single match | |||
| Round of 32 | 16 | 32 → 16 | New entries: Clubs participating in La Liga gained entry. Opponents seeding: The seven teams from La Liga which qualified for 2018–19 UEFA competitions, faced the remaining six teams from Segunda División B and Tercera División and one Segunda División Team. The other 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 match | |||
| Round of 16 | 8 | 16 → 8 | Opponents seeding: Draw of lots. Local team seeding: First leg at home of the team in the lower division. Knock-out tournament type: Double match | |||
| Quarter-finals | 4 | 8 → 4 | Opponents seeding: Draw of lots. Local team seeding: Luck of the draw. Knock-out tournament type: Double match | |||
| Semi-finals | 1 February 2019 | 2 | 4 → 2 | |||
| Final | [3] | 1 | 2 → 1 | Single match at the Estadio Benito Villamarín in Seville. Both teams qualified for the 2019–20 Supercopa de España. UEFA Europa League qualification: winners qualified for the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League group stage. |
The following teams are qualified for the competition. Reserve teams are excluded.
| La Liga the 20 teams of the 2017–18 season | Segunda División the 20 non-reserve teams of the 2017–18 season | Segunda División B the top five non-reserve teams of each group and the five with the highest number of points 2017–18 season excluding reserve teams | Tercera División the best non-reserve team of each one of the 18 groups of the 2017–18 season | |
41 teams entered the competition at this round. Five Segunda B or Tercera División teams that in the previous season did not play in Tercera División received a bye. The rest were paired according to proximity criteria.[4]
Due to the breach of the competition rules, giving byes to unauthorised teams, the draw of the first and second round had to be partially repeated.[5]
Villanovense, Murcia, Badalona, Tudelano and Lorca FC received a bye to the second round.[6]The 22 Segunda División teams entered the competition in this round and were joined by the winners of the previous stage, except for Mutilvera, who received a bye to the third round. Segunda División teams were drawn against each other.
The Segunda División teams faced each other, except for Mallorca, who received a bye to the round of 32.
The draw for the Round of 32 was held on 19 October 2018 at La Ciudad del Fútbol, Las Rozas de Madrid. In this round, all La Liga teams entered the competition.
Round of 32 pairings were as follows: the six remaining teams participating in the 2018–19 Segunda División B and Tercera División faced the four 2018–19 La Liga teams which qualified for the UEFA Champions League and two of the three teams which qualified for the Europa League. The six remaining teams participating in Segunda División faced the last Europa League team not drawn previously and other La Liga teams. The remaining 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.
The draw for the round of 32 took place on 19 October at La Ciudad del Fútbol, in Las Rozas de Madrid.[7] On 23 October, the RFEF designated the referees for first leg matches.[8] All first leg matches were scheduled to be played between 30 October and 1 November; however, the match between Athletic Bilbao and Huesca had to be postponed because of the preparations for an MTV concert in San Mamés.[9] On 8 November, the RFEF made public the schedules for the second leg, scheduled to be played between 4 and 6 December.[10]
Sant Andreu, from Tercera División (fourth tier), was the lowest-ranked team still in the competition.
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The Round of 16 draw took place on December 13, 2018, at Ciudad del Fútbol in Las Rozas, Madrid. The first leg took place in the second week of January and the return leg the following week.[11]
Sporting Gijón, from Segunda División, was the only remaining team that did not play in the top tier.
In this round, the video assistant referee was applied for the first time ever in the Copa del Rey.
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The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 18 January 2019 at Ciudad del Fútbol in Las Rozas, Madrid.
All remaining teams are from the top tier.
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The draw for the semi-finals took place on 1 February 2019 at the venue for the final of the competition, the Benito Villamarín Stadium.[12]
All four teams remaining came from pot 2, which included teams involved in European competitions.
The winners of the semi-finals advance to the final and qualify for the 2019 Supercopa de España.
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See main article: 2019 Copa del Rey final. The final took place on 25 May 2019 at the Benito Villamarín Stadium in Seville.
