2015–16 Copa del Rey
The 2015–16 Copa del Rey was the 114th staging of the Copa del Rey. Going into the tournament, the winners were assured a place for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League Group stage. However, since the two finalists, Barcelona and Sevilla, both qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, respectively by winning the 2015–16 La Liga title and the 2015–16 Europa League, the cup winner's place in the 2016–17 Europa League group stage instead passed to the fifth-place team in La Liga, Athletic Bilbao.
Barcelona entered as the defending champions after winning the 2014–15 edition. They defeated Sevilla 2–0 in the final, winning their 28th title.
Schedule and format
;Notes- Double-match rounds enforced away goals rule, single-match rounds did not.
- Games ending in a tie were decided in extra time; and if it persisted, by a penalty shoot-out.
- UEFA Europa League qualification: since the Cup winners, Barcelona, qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, the 5th and 6th ranked teams in 2015–16 La Liga, Athletic Bilbao and Celta Vigo, qualified for the Europa League group stage and play-off round respectively.
Qualified teams
The following teams competed in the 2015–16 Copa del Rey.Twenty teams of 2014–15 La Liga:
- Almería
- Athletic Bilbao
- Atlético Madrid
- Barcelona
- Celta Vigo
- Córdoba
- Deportivo La Coruña
- Eibar
- Elche
- Espanyol
- Getafe
- Granada
- Levante
- Málaga
- Rayo Vallecano
- Real Madrid
- Real Sociedad
- Sevilla
- Valencia
- Villarreal
- Alavés
- Albacete
- Alcorcón
- Girona
- Jaén
- Las Palmas
- Leganés
- Llagostera
- Lugo
- Mallorca
- Mirandés
- Numancia
- Osasuna
- Ponferradina
- Racing Santander
- Real Betis
- Sabadell
- Sporting Gijón
- Valladolid
- Tenerife
- Zaragoza
- Barakaldo
- Cádiz
- Compostela
- Cultural Leonesa
- Gimnàstic Tarragona
- Guijuelo
- Guadalajara
- Hércules
- Huesca
- Huracán Valencia
- Linense
- Lleida Esportiu
- Melilla
- Murcia
- Oviedo
- Racing Ferrol
- Real Unión
- Reus
- Tudelano
- UCAM Murcia
- UD Logroñés
- Villanovense
- Algeciras
- Arandina
- Ascó
- Castellón
- Condal
- Ebro
- Formentera
- Jumilla
- Laredo
- Linares
- Mensajero
- Mérida
- Peña Sport
- Pontevedra
- Portugalete
- Rayo Majadahonda
- Talavera de la Reina
- Varea
First round
The draw for First and Second round was held on 21 July 2015 at 13:00 CEST in La Ciudad del Fútbol, RFEF headquarters, in Las Rozas, Madrid. In this round, 37 teams from 2015–16 Segunda División B and 5 from 2015–16 Tercera División teams gained entry. In the draw, firstly six teams from Segunda División B received a bye and then, the remaining teams in the league and teams from Tercera División faced according to proximity criteria by next groups:| Pot 1 Group 1 | Pot 2 Group 2 | Pot 3 Group 3 | Pot 4 Group 4 |
| Segunda División B: Arandina Cultural Leonesa Compostela Guijuelo Peña Sport Pontevedra Racing Ferrol Racing Santander Tudelano UD Logroñés Tercera División: Condal Laredo Varea | Segunda División B: Barakaldo Ebro Guadalajara Mensajero Portugalete Rayo Majadahonda Real Unión Socuéllamos Talavera de la Reina | Segunda División B: Alcoyano Hércules Huracán Valencia Lleida Reus Sabadell Tercera División: Ascó Castellón Formentera | Segunda División B: Algeciras Cádiz Jumilla Linares Linense Melilla Mérida Murcia Recreativo UCAM Murcia Villanovense |
- Barakaldo, UCAM Murcia, Villanovense, Racing Ferrol, UD Logroñés and Huracán Valencia received a bye for the second round.
Second round
In the second round teams from Segunda División played among themselves and teams from Segunda División B and Tercera played separately. Zaragoza received a bye for the third round.Third round
- Huesca received a bye for the Round of 32.
Final phase
The draw for the Round of 32 was held on October 16, 2015, in La Ciudad del Fútbol. In this round, all La Liga teams entered the competition.Round of 32 pairings were as follows: the seven remaining teams participating in Segunda División B faced the La Liga teams which qualified for European competitions. The five remaining teams participating in Segunda División faced five La Liga teams which did not qualify for European competitions. The remaining eight La Liga teams faced each other. In matches involving teams from different league tiers, the team in the lower tier played the first leg at home. This rule was also applied in the Round of 16, but not for the Quarter-finals and Semi-finals, in which the order of legs was based on the luck of the draw.
| Pot 1 Segunda División B | Pot 2 European competitions | Pot 3 Segunda División | Pot 4 Rest of Primera División |
| Barakaldo Cádiz Huesca Linense Reus Villanovense UD Logroñés | Barcelona Real Madrid Atlético Madrid Valencia Sevilla Athletic Bilbao Villarreal | Almería Leganés Llagostera Mirandés Ponferradina | Real Betis Celta Vigo Deportivo La Coruña Eibar Espanyol Getafe Granada Las Palmas Levante Málaga Rayo Vallecano Real Sociedad Sporting Gijón |