Last update 16 November, 2012 by Julio Muñoz
The Copa del Rey has held the round of 16 qualifiers throughout this week. 32 teams have faced a double match, with a multitude of confrontations between First and Second B teams. A great opportunity for smaller teams to play against the best players, and a joy for the fans of normally small towns for whom the visits of the largest ones is more than an event.
However, not everything can be pretty, and what could be a magnificent opportunity to enhance the Copa del Rey, has become a nonsense of the highest degree that needs to be analyzed. On the contrary, What happens in England where the League Cup has left us with a packed Stamford Bridge to watch the great Chelsea-Manchester game that ended with 5-4 in favor of the blues, or in France, a Parc des Princes also packed to capacity to see a PGS-Marseille, in Spain it returns to circulate in the opposite direction, with the danger that this poses for the viability of football.
Por varios motivos. The first, not carrying out a pure draw, unlike what happens in the rest of the countries. The cup is the competition of opportunities and this implies that a pure draw could attract the attention of spectators from the first round. A Valencia- Madrid or Sevilla-Barcelona, Not to mention a derby between whites and blaugranas could start to heat up the Cup from the beginning, as happened this week in England or France.
The second reason is to play the qualifying rounds in two games.. If at least pure draw is not allowed, It makes no sense to dispute the confrontations back and forth., especially when the difference is abysmal.
It will be curious, and here at Colgados por el Fútbol we will be aware of analyzing attendance at the stadiums in the return matches. A Valencia-Llagostera with a 0-2 in favor of the Valencians cannot be liked by the Valencian fans. Maybe they can have a better plan.
Colchoneros fans can also dedicate themselves to other tasks on Atlético-Jaen day, already with a 3-0 in favor of the first. What to say about the Bernabeu or Camp Nou, gigantic stadiums that will surely not sell out the seats to see a Madrid-Alcoyano (4-1) or a Barcelona-Alavés (3-0).
If perhaps Getafe-Ponferradina can receive more fans. The Alfonso Pérez Muñoz Coliseum usually “receive great entries” throughout the year and surely in four Wednesdays with a 4-0 In favor of the azulones, the stadium is capable of hosting more than 100 personas.
What we are trying to say is that the Spanish Football Federation must take measures to prevent the Copa del Rey from becoming (that's another, the distance between the first leg and the second leg) in a grotesque.
It is so difficult to make the first single-match qualifiers, on neutral ground (dividing the box office between the two teams as they do in England) and generating emotion. No, you have to make it complicated, generate disinterest, and disengage the viewer. Keep it up, how well they are going.