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| Barça lost to Hércules in 2010/2011 |
FC Barcelona now know their first opponent in the 2016/2017 Spanish Copa del Rey tournament as they bid to defend the crown which has stayed comfortably on their head for the previous two seasons.
The Catalan giants saw off Sevilla 2-0 in the final of last season’s Copa del Rey tournament to win their 27th title, a record in Spanish football and it was their second in a row after they beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 in the final the season before that.
Luis Enrique and his men will be looking to make it three in a row and will kick off their title defence away against Hércules at the Rico Pérez stadium, a place where Barcelona’s B-team have already picked up all three points after they beat Hércules 1-3 in their Segunda B league game.
There are sour memories from the game, in Barça’s Liga winning season in 2010/2011 newly promoted Hércules stunned the defending Champions at Camp Nou, beating Pep Guardiola’s side 2-0 with Messi and Co on the pitch no thanks to a brace from Paraguayan striker Nelson Valdez, Barça would go on to win the return leg 3-0 however.
As the rules state, the 5 Champions League qualifying teams get to meet a team from the Segunda B or 4th tier division.. Barça were drawn with Hércules while rivals Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid got paired with Cultural Leonesa and CD Guijuelo respectively. The other two CL qualifying teams Sevilla and Villarreal were drawn to face Formentera and Toledo respectively while Racing de Santander escaped the top five teams but will face a tough test against Athletic Bilbao.
The first leg of the games will be played on November 30, 2016 while the return fixture will be played on December 30. Barça will play against Hércules away at the Rico Pérez in the first leg with the second leg to take place at Camp Nou. All of the top tier teams will play away first except Leganés, Betis and Sporting Gijón.
COPA DEL REY ROUND 32 DRAW
Hércules vs Barcelona
Cultural Leonesa vs Real Madrid
CD Guijuelo vs Atlético Madrid
Formentera vs Sevilla
CD Toledo vs Villarreal
Racing Santander vs Athletic Bilbao
UCAM Murcia vs Celta Vigo
Córdoba vs Malaga
Real Valladolid vs Real Sociedad
Huesca vs UD Las Palmas
Tarragona vs Alavés
Alcorcón vs Espanyol
Sporting Gijón vs Éibar
Granada vs Osasuna
Leganés vs Valencia
Real Betis vs Deportivo La Coruña