| Copa del Rey | |
| Year: | 2020–21 |
| Country: | Spain |
| Date: | 11 November 2020 – 17 April 2021 |
| Num Teams: | 126 |
| Champions: | Barcelona |
| Count: | 31 |
| Runner-Up: | Athletic Bilbao |
| Matches: | 127 |
| Goals: | 345 |
| Top Goal Scorer: | Sergio León (5 goals) |
| Prevseason: | 2019–20 |
| Nextseason: | 2021–22 |
The 2020–21 Copa del Rey was the 119th staging of the Copa del Rey (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The winners are assured a place in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League group stage. Both the winners and the runners-up qualified for the four-team 2021–22 Supercopa de España.
Real Sociedad were the defending champions, having won the postponed final of the previous edition, which was held two weeks before the 2021 final.[1] They were already eliminated by Real Betis in the round of 16 of the 2020–21 edition, before the previous final had been played. Barcelona won the final 4–0 against Athletic Bilbao for a record 31st Copa del Rey title.[2] [3]
As across Spain, match times up to 25 October 2020 and from 28 March 2021 were CEST (UTC+2). Times on interim ("winter") days were CET (UTC+1).
On 14 September 2020, the RFEF released the calendar of the competition and confirmed the format of the previous season would remain.[4]
| Round | Draw date | Date | Fixtures | Clubs | Format details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary | 10 | New entries: Clubs qualified through the 2019–20 fifth tier. Opponents seeding: Teams faced each other according to proximity criteria. Local team seeding: Luck of the draw. Knock-out tournament type: Single match | ||||
| First round | 56 | 116 → 60 | New entries: All qualified teams except the four participants in the Supercopa de España. Opponents seeding: Teams from La Liga faced teams from the lowest divisions. The four remaining teams faced teams from Segunda División B. Local team seeding: Match played at home of team in lower division. Knock-out tournament type: Single match. | |||
| 28 | 60 → 32 | Opponents seeding: Teams from lowest divisions faced La Liga teams. Local team seeding: Match played at home of team in lower division. Knock-out tournament type: Single match | ||||
| Round of 32 | 16 | 32 → 16 | New entries: Clubs participating in Supercopa de España gained entry. Opponents seeding: Teams from lowest divisions faced La Liga teams. Local team seeding: Match played at home of team in lower division. Knock-out tournament type: Single match. | |||
| Round of 16 | 8 | 16 → 8 | Opponents seeding: Teams from lowest divisions faced La Liga teams. Local team seeding: Match played at home of team in lower division. Knock-out tournament type: Single match. | |||
| Quarter-finals | 4 | 8 → 4 | Opponents seeding: Luck of the draw. Local team seeding: Match played at home of team in lower division. Knock-out tournament type: Single match. | |||
| Semi-finals | 2 | 4 → 2 | Opponents seeding: Luck of the draw. Local team seeding: Luck of the draw. Knock-out tournament type: Double match. | |||
| Final | 17 April 2021 | 1 | 2 → 1 | Single match at Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville. Both teams qualified for the 2021–22 Supercopa de España. UEFA Europa League qualification: winners qualified for the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League group stage.** |
The following teams qualified for the competition. Reserve teams were excluded.
| La Liga All 20 teams of the 2019–20 season | Segunda División All 22 teams of the 2019–20 season | Segunda División B The top seven teams of each one of the four groups of the 2019–20 season, excluding reserve teams | Tercera División The best team of each one of the eighteen groups of the 2019–20 season plus the best fourteen runners-up, excluding reserve teams | Copa Federación The four semifinalists of the 2020 Copa Federación de España | Regional leagues The winners of the twenty groups of the fifth tier in the 2019–20 season | |
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Teams were divided into four groups according to geographical criteria.
The first round was played by all the qualified teams, except for the four participants of the 2020–21 Supercopa de España. The ten winners from the previous preliminary round were paired with ten teams from La Liga. The remaining six teams and the 22 teams of the Segunda División were paired with the four Copa Federación semi-finalists, the fourteen teams that competed in the Tercera División and ten teams from Segunda B. Finally, the remaining 36 teams from Segunda B were paired between them. In the case of opponents from the same division, the home advantage was decided by whichever team was drawn first; otherwise, the match was held in the stadium of the lower division team. A total of 56 games were played, with 112 participating teams, from 15 to 30 December 2020.[5]
The draw was held on 16 November at the Estadio de La Cartuja, Seville. Teams were divided into five pots.[5]
The draw was held on 18 December in the RFEF headquarters in Las Rozas. Teams were divided into four pots according to their division in the 2020–21 season. Tercera División teams were drawn with others from La Liga, while the remaining Segunda B and Tercera teams were drawn with teams from La Liga and Segunda División. Matches were played at the home of the lower-ranked team.
The four participant teams of the 2020–21 Supercopa de España were drawn with the teams from the lowest category. After them, the remaining teams from the lowest categories faced the rest of La Liga teams. Matches were played at the home of the lower-ranked team, with exceptions due to Storm Filomena noted below. The draw was held on 8 January 2021.
Teams of La Liga were firstly drawn against the teams from Segunda and Segunda B, with those matches to be played at the Segunda/Segunda B teams' homes, and then the remaining six teams of La Liga were drawn against each other. The draw was held on 22 January 2021.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | |
| Alcoyano Navalcarnero | Almería Girona Rayo Vallecano | Athletic Bilbao Barcelona Granada Levante Osasuna Real Betis Real Sociedad Sevilla Valencia Valladolid Villarreal |
All eight teams were in one pot, and the home team was decided by the luck of the draw. As the only remaining Segunda División side, Almería hosted its opponent regardless, as per the rules. The draw was held on 29 January 2021.
| La Liga | Segunda División | |
| Athletic Bilbao Barcelona Granada Levante Real Betis Sevilla Villarreal | Almería |
The draw for the semi-finals was held on 5 February 2021.
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Barcelona won 3–2 on aggregate.----Athletic Bilbao won 3–2 on aggregate.
See main article: 2021 Copa del Rey final.
