When was the last time that neither Real Madrid nor FC Barcelona were in the Copa del Rey semi-finals?

The change in format that took place in 2019 at the hands of the former president of the RFEF has given the Copa del Rey great competitiveness in recent years, which the truth is that it was difficult to observe in the past. Teams that usually did not make it to the final rounds now have more chances thanks to the fact that the playoffs are a single match. That means that a good match can get you through to the round, but in the same way a bad match sends you home and ends your participation in the tournament. This creates much more expectation and the matches attract the viewer.

In recent years there have been a wide variety of teams that have reached this semi-final round and have had the option to fight in the final later to lift the title. In our memory remains that brilliant participation of Mirandés in the competition in 2020, when it reached the semifinals and only Real Sociedad deprived it of a dream final, also due to a fairly close result.

The presence of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona has been common in this round in the last decade, at least for one of the two teams. However, there has also been room for surprises, and we have been able to see semi-finals in which neither one nor the other has been.

You have to go back to very recently, specifically the 2021/2022 season, to see the last time this round did not feature the presence of two greats of Spanish football. On that occasion, FC Barcelona was eliminated by Athletic Bilbao in the round of 16, while Real Madrid would also fall in the next round to the Basque team, in a demonstration of strength by the team coached by Marcelino García Toral at the time. , which reached the semifinals and joined Valencia, Rayo and Betis in the fight to lift the trophy, although it would finally be eliminated by the Ché team in this same round. Real Betis would end up winning the tournament

You only have to go back two years, to the 2019/2020 season, to see the next time they were not present in the semi-final round. On this occasion, the merengue team was eliminated by Real Sociedad, while the Blaugranas also lost to Athletic, both in the quarterfinals. Finally, the semi-final round would include, in addition to these two clubs, Granada and the surprising Mirandés. The title would end up being won by Real Sociedad in an exciting Basque derby.

As we can see, we do not have to go back very far to see cases in which neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona have been present in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey, which makes us see that the competition is very entertaining and gives the opportunity for Many teams can dream of lifting the trophy on some occasion.

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