Atlético Saguntino two games from Copa del Rey after reaching last 16
Atlético Saguntino have reached the round of 16 of the Copa Federación after beating Torrent 1-2, and will be drawn in Group C alongside Orihuela CF.
The Copa Federación (a national cup for lower-division Spanish football clubs) already has its first qualifiers for the round of 16, and Atlético Saguntino is among them. The Sagunto side sealed its place with a 1-2 win away at Torrent, another Comunitat Valenciana municipality, in a regional derby. Orihuela CF, from the Vega Baja area of Alicante province, had already done the same a day earlier, on Tuesday, beating San Fernando, a club from Cádiz in Andalusia, 1-3 away.
Both clubs from the Valencian Community have now landed in the same group for the draw: Group C, which also includes Navalcarnero, a club from the Madrid region who beat Talavera 0-2, and Real Murcia, from the region of Murcia, who won 1-2 against Mensajero. The draw that will set the round-of-16 matchups takes place this Friday, 11 September, at 13:00, and it could pair Sagunto and Orihuela directly against each other, which would add extra spice to the rivalry between these two neighbouring Valencian sides.
What is at stake goes beyond the Copa Federación title itself. Both Atlético Saguntino and Orihuela are just two rounds away from earning a place in the Copa del Rey (King's Cup), Spanish football's most prestigious knockout competition, which clubs at this level rarely reach. The competition's format explains why they are so close: the Copa Federación brings together clubs from the first, second and third tiers of the Federación (Spain's non-professional football pyramid) that missed out on Copa del Rey qualification through their league position, and only the four national semi-finalists secure a Copa del Rey spot. In other words, getting past the round of 16 and the quarter-finals would put Saguntino among the tournament's last eight, one step from a prize only four clubs reach each season.
For Sagunto fans, this competition's name is not new to the club's history. Atlético Saguntino already won this very tournament a decade ago, when it was still called the Copa RFEF, beating Fuenlabrada in the 2016/17 final. That precedent explains why the club is approaching this new round with the ambition of repeating a feat it already knows well, and why its supporters are optimistic about another shot at the Copa del Rey. A decade on, that earlier title remains a reference point every time the club reaches a new stage of a cup competition, and it is part of why this new round is being followed so closely around the club.
The draw format adds extra intrigue to tomorrow's ceremony: since Orihuela and Saguntino have landed in the same Group C, they would only meet each other if the draw pairs them directly, after both qualified through very different routes — the Orihuela side thrashing their opponents away from home, Saguntino grinding out a hard-fought regional derby. A direct clash between the two would automatically knock one of the two Valencian representatives out of the competition, leaving only one Comunitat Valenciana club in the race for the quarter-finals. Supporters of both clubs will therefore be watching Friday's draw with mixed feelings: eager to see how far their own side can go, yet aware that being paired together would end one of the two campaigns immediately.
For a Tercera Federación (Spain's fifth tier) club like Atlético Saguntino, advancing in this competition also carries value beyond the pitch: every round survived raises the club's profile, and reaching the Copa del Rey could mean facing a much higher-category opponent, bringing added media attention and financial benefit for the club and its fans. A cup run of this kind is also a rare chance for a small-budget club to test itself against sides with far greater resources, something league fixtures at this level almost never provide.
While the draw result is still unknown, the Sagunto squad is back in training with the identity of its next rival still undecided. Fans, meanwhile, already have tomorrow's draw marked on the calendar to find out whether the next challenge will carry the name of a nearby rival or one of the other clubs that qualified this week. According to Golsmedia, with additional background from Wikipedia on Atlético Saguntino's history and the Copa Federación format.