Third round first leg

The draw for the third round of the cup took place on 5 January. Giant killers Torrelavega have been drawn against the biggest giant remaining in the competition, Barcelona. The other two teams from second division B, Gaudix and Granada have been drawn together, which means that one will be assured of a place in the quarter finals. There is one all first division tie, Racing Santander versus Athletic Bilbao, and the two Madrid sides, Atlético and Rayo Vallecano, also came out of the hat together.

Ties to be played over two legs, with the first on 10th January (Atlético vs Rayo - 11th) and the second on 17th January (Barça vs Torrelavega - 16th). Results of the first leg were as follows:

The Spanish cup reverted to it's usual format of matches over two legs at this third round stage, with first division teams playing in Europe seeded to play away against teams from the lower divisions. Barcelona must be favourites to win their 25th cup competition after beating second division B side Torrelavega 0-1. Rivaldo came on at half time to score the only goal of the game, which was played in a mud-bath of a pitch. The ground was full to bursting, and Torrelavega made 75 million Pesetas on the game, enabling then to pay their players who had not received their payrolls in the last three months. Reigning champions Espanyol also look in a good position to go through after drawing 1-1 at Extremadura. Serrano scored for the visitors but Kalla equalised in the second half after referee Medina Cantalejo sent off Espanyol's Toledo just before the break. Pochettino joined him in the sin bin in injury time as his side were reduced to nine men.

In the only all first division tie, Racing Santander surprised a depleted Athletic Bilbao with two goals in the first half from Del Horno (own goal) and Preciado to win 2-0, and Celta's new signing Berizzo scored the winner against Leganés after Morales had levelled an early strike from Tomás. A full strength Mallorca gave Tenerife no chance, taking a two goal lead in the first half hour through an own goal which was attributed to Basavilbaso and a shot from Eto'o, and Zaragoza completed a good day for first division teams with a 2-3 victory at Murcia, with goals by Tonelotto and Luis Gil at the beginning and the end of the game for the home side, and Aragón, José Ignacio and Juanele scoring in a fifteen minute period in the second half. The tie was spoilt by local idiots who threw glass bottles and other objects on the pitch at the end, and with a heavy rainstorm also falling on players heads, referee Esquinas Torres suspended the game with two of the four minutes of injury time left to play. In the all second division tie, Andalucian neighbours Gaudix and Granada drew 0-0.

Atlético Madrid and Rayo Vallecano drew 2-2 in the Madrid derby played on Thursday night. Atlético took a two goal lead within the first 25 minutes, both goals coming from Salva. However Hernández was sent off three minutes later for a second bookable offence leaving the home side with ten men, and Quevedo pulled one back for Rayo against the run of play after the break. With seven minutes to go Lopetegui denied Salva his hat-trick with a great penalty save, and De Quintana levelled the scores minutes later.