Throughout the history of the Copa del Rey, several lowly teams have surprised everyone by reaching the final of the competition.
The Copa del Rey is known as a knockout tournament, mainly because it’s where we’re most used to seeing big upsets: modest teams or teams from lower divisions beating the giants of our country. football and advance through the towers, dreaming of lifting the precious trophy.
Among the most memorable moments, we remember theAlcorconazowhen the Madrid city team inflicted a 4-0 defeat on Pellegrini’s Real Madrid in 2009, or Alcoyano who eliminated the Madrid giants in the 2020/21 season, the same edition where Atlético Madrid suffered a shock defeat against Cornellà, losing 1-0.
Throughout the tournament’s history, teams have achieved such feats, eliminating the country’s biggest clubs along the way. Other modest teams, perhaps not having faced such high-level opponents but going through a difficult path, managed to reach the final stages of the tournament, with realistic chances of becoming champions and making history.
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No team outside of the elite of Spanish football has ever managed to win the Copa del Rey; In the end, it was always first division rivals who triumphed. However, several teams have managed to reach the grand final during the tournament’s history.
An unusual case occurred in the 1979/80 season when Real Madrid’s reserve team progressed through the rounds to reach the final. Coincidentally, their opponent was Real Madrid themselves, marking the only time in history that a Copa final has been contested between a club and its reserve team. As expected, the first team triumphed with a convincing 6-1 victory, but thanks to their feat, Castilla earned the right to play in the European Cup Winners’ Cup. This is the latest example of a final contested by a team not from the higher division. Reserve teams can no longer participate in this tournament.
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The Galician team competed in the Copa del Generalísimo in the 1938/39 season, when Spain was still in the throes of its civil war. After eliminating Real Sociedad in the quarter-final and Barakaldo in the semi-final, they lost in the final against Sevilla, who were the big favorites. The peculiarity of this story is that at that time, Racing de Ferrol was not part of any league category, although it was integrated into the second division after the civil war.
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In the 1934/35 season, the Catalan team played in the Spanish second division, finishing second, and reached the final of what was then known as the Copa del Presidente de la République. Once again, Sevilla were the enforcers of a lower division team in the cup final, winning 3-0.
One of the most legendary clubs in Spanish football, Real Betis, reached the final of the Copa del Presidente de la République in the 1930/31 season. Along the way, they eliminated Badalona, Real Madrid and Arenas de Getxo, but were unable to clinch the title, losing in the final to Athletic Club de Bilbao. During this season, Betis played in the second division.
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