The 2008–09 Copa del Rey was the 107th staging of the Copa del Rey (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The competition started on 23 August 2008 and concluded on 13 May 2009 with the final, held at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, in which Barcelona lifted the trophy for the 25th time in their history with a 4–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao, who qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League. The defending cup holders were Valencia, but they were eliminated in the quarter-finals. Qualified teams The following teams competed in the 2008–09 Copa del Rey: 20 teams of 2007–08 La Liga: Almería Athletic Bilbao Atlético Madrid Barcelona Betis Deportivo Espanyol Getafe Levante Mallorca Real Murcia Osasuna Racing Santander Real Madrid Recreativo Sevilla Valencia Valladolid Villarreal Zaragoza 21 teams of 2007–08 Segunda División (Sevilla Atlético are excluded for being a reserve team of Sevilla): Alavés Albacete Cádiz Castellón Celta Vigo Córdoba Eibar Elche Gimnàstic Granada 74 Hércules Las Palmas Málaga Numancia Poli Ejido Racing Ferrol Real Sociedad Salamanca Sporting de Gijón Tenerife Xerez 24 teams of 2007–08 Segunda División B. Teams that qualified are the top five teams of each of the 4 groups (excluding reserve teams) and the four with the highest number of points out of the remaining non-reserve teams (*): Pontevedra Rayo Vallecano Fuerteventura Lugo Universidad LPGC Ponferradina Huesca Zamora Barakaldo Real Unión Girona Melilla* Gavà Alicante Benidorm Orihuela Écija Ceuta Linares Mérida Granada Conquense* Lemona* Águilas* 18 teams of Tercera División 2007–08. Teams that qualified are the champions of each of the 18 groups (or at least the ones with the highest number of points within their group since reserve teams are excluded): Ciudad de Santiago Real Oviedo Gimnástica Portugalete Sant Andreu Alzira Ciempozuelos Mirandés Roquetas San Fernando Atlético Baleares Atlético Granadilla Atlético Ciudad Don Benito Izarra Alfaro Ejea Toledo First round The matches were played on 23, 25, 26, 27 and 28 August 2008. |} Second round The matches were played on 3, 4 and 11 September 2008. Albacete received a bye. |} Third round The matches were played on 8 and 9 October 2008. Real Murcia received a bye. |} Final phase bracket Team listed first play home in the first leg. Round of 32 The first leg matches were played on 28, 29 and 30 October while the second legs were played on 11, 12