The Uefa Cup winners, who beat Getafe in last season’s final, will play the first leg at home next week and the return at the Nou Camp on January 16.

Sevilla staged a heart-stopping comeback to defeat Denia 5-4 on aggregate in midweek, while Barcelona completed a 5-2 win over another third division side Alcoyano despite being held 2-2 at the Nou Camp.

“It is a tie that will really test the level of the team,” Sevilla defender Daniel Alves told a news conference.

“But we know that we always play better against the big sides and we need to make sure that happens in this match.”

The winner of the tie will meet either Recreativo Huelva or Villarreal in the quarter-finals.

League leaders Real Madrid were drawn against Real Mallorca, who defeated the nine-times European champions on their way to winning the Cup in 2003.

Real have not won the Cup since 1993, but sporting director Predrag Mijatovic said that they hoped to break that run this season.

“We are really keen to do well in the Cup this year after so many years without winning it,” Mijatovic told reporters. “It is an open tie but we are the favourites especially given that we are playing the second leg at the Bernabeu.”

The winner of the tie will meet either last season’s losing finalists Getafe or Primera Liga basement side Levante in the last eight.

The draw threw up two intriguing reunions with Victor Munoz’s Recreativo Huelva facing up to his former club Villarreal and Ernesto Valverde’s Espanyol taking on his old team Athletic Bilbao.

Atletico Madrid meet Valladolid, Real Zaragoza face Racing Santander and Real Betis take on Valencia in the other ties.

Meanwhile, Barcelona’s Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o will join his national team for the African Nations Cup in Ghana after January 12, about a week later than expected, the Spanish club said yesterday.

The 26-year-old will play for Barcelona against Sevilla in the King’s Cup on January 9 and its league match against Murcia three days later before departing, Barcelona coach Franck Rijkaard told a news conference.

Barcelona reached an agreement to delay by about one week the three-time African Player of the Year’s trip to join his national team, he said.

The Spanish side’s midfielder Yaya Toure, meanwhile, will join his Ivory Coast side on Monday, Rijkaard said.

With both Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Ronaldinho unavailable due to injury, Barcelona is relying heavily on Eto’o for its firing power.