Copa del Rey

The Copa del Rey (English: King's Cup) is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey (Championship of Spain – Cup of His Majesty the King), and is commonly known as La Copa.

The competition was founded in 1903, thus making it the oldest Spanish football competition. Typically, the winner of Copa del Rey goes to the UEFA Europa League; unless they qualify for the UEFA Champions League.

Barcelona are the current holders, who won their 27th Copa del Rey against Athletic Bilbao at the 2015 Copa del Rey Final held at the Camp Nou.

History

In 1902, a competition under the name Copa de la Coronación, was played after Carlos Padrós, later president of Real Madrid, suggested a football tournament to celebrate the coronation of King Alfonso XIII. Four other teams joined Madrid FC for the competition: FC Barcelona, Club Español de Foot-Ball, New Foot-Ball de Madrid and Club Bizcaya (a team made up of players from Athletic Club and Bilbao FC) which eventually defeated Barcelona in the final. That cup is on display in the Athletic Bilbao museum and the club includes the victory in its honours list. Nevertheless, it is considered only the forerunner of the Copa del Rey and the Royal Spanish Football Federation officially doesn't recognize it.

Barcelona

Barcelona (/bɑːrsəˈloʊnə/, Catalan: [bəɾsəˈlonə], Spanish: [barθeˈlona]) is the capital city of the autonomous community of Catalonia in Spain and Spain's second most populated city, with a population of 1.6 million within its administrative limits. Its urban area extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of around 4.7 million people, being the seventh-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, Madrid, the Ruhr area, Berlin and Milan. It is the largest metropolis on the Mediterranean Sea, located on the coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, and bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola mountain range, the tallest peak of which is 512 metres (1,680 ft) high.

Founded as a Roman city, in the Middle Ages Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, Barcelona continued to be an important city in the Crown of Aragon as an economical and administrative center of this Crown and the capital of the Principality of Catalonia. Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage and is today an important cultural center and a major tourist destination. Particularly renowned are the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona. The city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and also many international sport tournaments.

Deportivo Alavés

Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. [deporˈtiβo alaˈβes], usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 1921 it plays in Segunda División, holding home matches at the 19,800-seater Estadio Mendizorrotza.

Its biggest success was in 2001 when, in the year of its debut in European competition, it was one of the finalists in the 2001 UEFA Cup Final against Liverpool, being defeated 5–4 by golden goal.

The team's home kit is blue and white-striped shirt, blue shorts and white socks.

History

Founded in 1921, Alavés first reached La Liga eight years later, a stint which would last three years. In the 50s it would reach Primera División again.

After years of seriously facing disappearance, which went well into the 90s, the club finally achieved a Segunda División promotion in 1994–95 after two consecutive years winning Segunda División B – created as the new third level in 1977 – but consistently failing in the promotion playoffs.

Paco Alcácer

Francisco "Paco" Alcácer García (Spanish pronunciation: ['pako al'kaθer]; born 30 August 1993) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Valencia CF and the Spanish national team as a striker.

Having come through the Valencia youth ranks, he started playing with the first team in 2010, and became a regular following a loan at Getafe.

Alcácer won the European Championship twice with Spain's under-19 side, and made his senior international debut in 2014.

Club career

Born in Torrent, Valencian Community, Alcácer is a product of Valencia CF's youth system. He made his senior debut in the 2009–10 season aged only 16, scoring three goals in 15 games with the reserve side and suffering relegation from Segunda División B. On 11 November 2010 he appeared in his first match with the first team, playing the full 90 minutes in a 4–1 home win against UD Logroñés (7–1 on aggregate) in the Copa del Rey.

On 12 August 2011, after Alcácer had netted the third and final goal in a 3–0 friendly win over A.S. Roma and was leaving the Mestalla Stadium accompanied by his parents, his father fell to the ground after suffering a heart attack. Despite 30 minutes of efforts by medics to revive him, the 44-year-old died, and the player returned to training less than one week after, for "therapy purposes". On 14 January 2012 he made his La Liga debut, coming on as a substitute for Sofiane Feghouli for the last 20 minutes of a 0–1 away loss against Real Sociedad.

Luis Enrique

Luís Enrique may refer to: