Cup Draw? Who knows....

I love so much about Spain. But some things infuriate me badly, a lack of organization being one of these! We still don't know who our rival in the fourth round of the cup will be, and nobody, not even the Football Federation (RFEF), knows when the draw will be. I suspect that Real Madrid and Barcelona haven't decided who they want to play yet.....

The draw is no "balls in a velvet bag, first out plays at home, second plays away" type thing, far from it. That system is for the sides from tercera and segunda B who don't matter, and play the first 2 rounds. The third round includes Segunda sides, who have to play each other - go figure. In the 4th round the Primera sides come in to the competition, and here it gets even more complicated. The remaining 7 sides from tercera or segunda B (of which Real Murcia are one) play against the 7 primera sides who are playing in europe. The remaining segunda sides and the rest of primera are also drawn against each other. The ties in round 4 are over 2 legs...and get this....the second leg is always a home game for the primera side! Er....WHY? And the european sides whinge about too many games, but are the first to insist on this warped draw and 2 legged ties.

Apparently this is so lower sides can make money, as surely they will be thrashed 5 or 6 nil if they played away first, and then no-one would turn up for the second leg. This simply doesn't work, as Real Madrid's elimination the last 2 seasons by Irun and Alcorcon have proved, and is a sad view to take on football. Sadly the minnows mean little in a Madrid / Barsa total duopoly.

Coat!