The Spanish Cup has a special aura since it starts before the national championship. This will be the 118th edition of the competition this season.

Except for the semi-finals which are played over two legs, all the matches are knockout games with extra time and penalties in case of a tie at the end of normal time. In essence, cup matches can cause surprising results. For example, last season, Real Madrid lost 2-1 to Alcoyano, a team that had just moved up to Segunda B. Both teams have been drawn again this season.

Bet on Barça as a cup team

The defending Spanish King's Cup holders, Barcelona, are also the team that has lifted the winner's trophy the most times with 31 wins. The Blaugrana team has been racking up the Copa del Rey recently with six wins and nine finals since 2010.

The winner of the Copa del Rey qualifies for the Europa League, a competition sponsored by bwin and in which Barça is playing this season.

Betting on the Copa del Rey 2021/22

All teams from the top three divisions and some lower division sides are taking part in the Copa del Rey 2021/22 this season, except the reserve teams, making a total of 116 teams.

From the round of 32 onwards, the four teams that took part in the last edition of the Spanish Supercup (Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic) enter the competition and are given a fair draw.

Until the round of 16, as in previous editions, there will be no VAR technology. From the round of 16, the technology will be present on the side of the field.

Note that until the quarterfinals and whenever possible, the format of the draw favours LaLiga teams over teams from lower divisions.

Recommended betting on the Spanish Cup

Spanish Cup matches often offer unexpected duels between teams from different divisions. In addition to the lack of reference in head-to-head duels, progress to the next round favours the team that scores more goals than its opponent.

Thus, depending on when a team scores the first goal of the match, the scenario is much more open than a league match. There are many Spanish Cup matches with multiple goals and turnarounds until the final whistle. A recommended bet is a Copa del Rey match with more than 2.5 goals.