(Football news) The big boys of La Liga will be in Copa del Rey action. The new rules of the only club competition in Spain's top division means that only the semifinal round will be a two legged fixture.

Real Madrid will return to the play where they were infamously knocked out of the first CDR round last year. Alcoyano will host the Los Blancos with a dream of knocking out the mighty Madrid two years in a row. Real Madrid have rested Karim Benzema, Thibaut Courtois, Luka Modric and Ferland Mendy. Vinicius Jr is yet to fully recover from Covid while Gareth Bale and Dani Carvajal are not fully fit. Real Madrid started their year in the worst possible fashion with a completely lackluster performance in the 1-0 loss against Getafe. A Copa del Rey shouldn't be any less of a priority for Real Madrid than the La Liga and Champions League. Los Blancos haven't won the cup since 2014 which was also under Carlo Ancelotti.

After a 1-0 win against Mallorca, Barcelona will travel to Linares Deportivo to play in the Copa del Rey round of 32. The game will see the official return of Dani Alves. The Blaugrana will be without Sergi Roberto, Martin Braithwaite, Ansu Fati, Memphis Depay, Clément Lenglet, Samuel Umtiti, Luuk De Jong, Yusuf Demir, Pedri, Ferran Torres, Gavi, Philippe Coutinho, Sergiño Dest, Alejandro Balde and Abde Ezzalzouli. The Copa del Rey could be Barcelona's only hope of winning a piece of Silverware hence Xavi will most probably play his strongest possible XI. 

Atletico Madrid who were eliminated in the 2nd round of the competition last season will play Rayo Majadahonda in the Round of 32. The Rojiblancos won 2-0 against Rayo Vallecano at the Wanda Metropolitano. Antoine Griezmann, Hector Herrera, Joao Felix, Koke, Marcos Llorente and Stefan Savic are out of contention while Kieran Trippier who has been heavily linked with a move to Newcastle could be left out. Atletico ended their 4 match losing streak in the league with the win against Rayo Vallecano. Atletico haven't won the competition since 2013 and will be keen to go to the later stages this time around.

Also read: Alvaro Morata set to complete controversial move to FC Barcelona