Tough KO for Villarreal in Copa del Rey before hosting Barcelona

Racing de Santander advanced to the round of 16 of the 2025-26 Copa del Rey after eliminating third-placed LaLiga EA Sports team Villarreal (2-1). Goals from Juan Carlos Arana in the 6th and 28th minutes were enough to seal the elimination of the 'Yellow Submarine', FC Barcelona's next opponent in the league.

The 'green and white' team surprised Marcelino García's side with two goals in the first half-hour to set them on the path to qualification at El Sardinero. The leader of Liga Hypermotion relied on Arana's inspiration and good defensive work to hold onto their lead, despite Ayoze Pérez's goal in the 86th minute.

Villarreal had more possession (66%) and shots (19), but lacked effectiveness despite bringing in most of their starters in the second half. The Cantabrians, for their part, continue in the Cup, where they had already eliminated Logroñés and Ponferradina before pulling off the upset against the 'groguets'

Villarreal Consummates Its Second Failure in 2025/26

Although the 'Yellow Submarine' has had a very positive first half of the season in LaLiga, the defeat against Racing confirmed the second failure of the season for the Castellón team. The team was eliminated from the Champions League on matchday 6, after earning just 1 point out of a possible 15 in the group stage. 

Marcelino's team is second to last in the general standings with only 4 goals for and 13 against. Only Kairat has a worse goal difference than the 'groguets' (-11), with both clubs having no chance of entering the playoff zone even if they win their last two matches in January

The Copa del Rey exit, moreover, comes just before hosting Barça in La Liga next Sunday at La Cerámica (16:15 CEST). Last week, Villarreal had to postpone their match against Levante due to weather issues. Even so, they maintained third place in the standings with 35 points, one more than Atlético and 8 behind the Blaugrana team (43) with two games in hand. 

Four LaLiga teams out of the Copa in the round of 32

In addition to Villarreal's upset at El Sardinero, three other LaLiga teams fell to Second Division rivals in the round of 32. Mallorca lost in La Coruña to Deportivo (1-0), while Levante also failed to survive their visit to Cultural Leonesa (1-0)

Celta, for their part, lost on penalties to Albacete (2-2, 3-0 on penalties). Any of these three clubs could be Barça's opponent in the round of 16, the last round with restrictions on matchups between teams competing in the Spanish Super Cup. Therefore, the Blaugrana team will not be able to face Real Madrid, Atlético or Athletic (if they qualify) in the next round