The opening Copa Andalucía match for Málaga and Real Betis will bring together much more than two Segunda Federación teams.
It will also be a meeting between two contrasting ways of building a squad.
Málaga have retained 16 players from the team that finished second in their group and contested the promotion play-offs. Betis, after suffering consecutive relegations, have announced exactly 16 departures.
The contrast extends across the tournament. Córdoba have added eight signings and promoted three players from their academy. Sporting de Huelva have renewed the contracts of 12 players and made eight additions. Granada and Sevilla, the two Liga F clubs, have also altered their squads before entering directly in the semi-finals.
All six participants are entering the same tournament, but almost none of them are starting from the same place.
Fourteen of Málaga’s 16 returning players are academy graduates
Málaga will have the most recognisable squad.
The club have confirmed that 16 players will remain and say that 14 of them are from Málaga and developed in their academy. Captains Encarni and María Farfán are among those continuing, alongside María Arrabal, Yoli Peche, Águeda, Carmen Aguilar, Belén, Jeni, Andrea Ríos, Noemi, Arantxa, Futu, Andrea Herrero and Alba Navarro.
Marina and Yessenia, who belonged to the reserve team last season, complete that group.
Héctor Díaz also remains in charge. He is entering his third campaign as head coach and is under contract until 2028. Málaga finished second in Group 3 of Segunda Federación in 2025/26 before losing to Real Sociedad B in the promotion play-off semi-finals.
Continuity does not mean that the squad is identical. The club have added Lucía Ramos, Carmela Ligero and Judith de Frutos, among others. Their starting point, however, remains the team that finished two ties away from promotion.
Betis begin another rebuild
Málaga’s opponents arrive in a completely different situation.
Betis announced the departures of 16 players in June: Ana Guerra, Paula Vizoso, Ángela Cabezas, Mabel Sierra, Malen Solozabal, María Gómez, Sara Sánchez, Andrea Hay, Marina Sánchez, Sara Balma, Paula Guerrero, Natalia Montilla, Carla Santaliestra, Laura Fernández, Rocío Salado and Yasmine Zouhir.
María Ruiz, Vicky, Daniela Sáenz, Lucía Méndez and Ruth Acedo renewed their contracts. They have been joined by several players promoted from the reserve team and eight new arrivals.
The new signings are Claudia Castro, Ayure Rodríguez, Jacqueline Jiménez, Alicia Martínez, Carlota Sánchez, Clàudia Riumalló, Blanca García and Laura Blanco.
Marco Tamarit remains in charge after renewing his contract until 2027, but he will be working with a profoundly different team. The Copa Andalucía will provide the first competitive test of a rebuild that began after Betis suffered consecutive relegations: first from Liga F to Primera Federación and then from Primera to Segunda Federación.
Twelve renewals and eight signings at Sporting
Sporting de Huelva have chosen a path between those two extremes.
The club completed 12 renewals before making eight additions. The latest was midfielder Taïs Patterson, who has represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level and also holds Swiss nationality.
Sporting have therefore retained an important part of the team that challenged near the top of the table last season while introducing new competition across the squad.
Antonio Toledo also remains in charge. The continuity of the coaching staff, the 12 renewals and their status as hosts mean Sporting will have a more familiar core when they begin against Córdoba.
The match will be played at the Estadio Antonio Toledo, inside the Ciudad Deportiva Francisco Mendoza. Victory would allow the most successful club in Copa Andalucía history to continue pursuing a fourth title without leaving Huelva.
Córdoba have made eight signings and promoted three players
Córdoba will enter the same fixture following a much broader overhaul.
In the announcement that accompanied the start of pre-season, the club listed four players as continuing or renewed: Mar Orzáez, Lorena Guillén, Elena Lozano and María Muñoz. They also promoted Lucía Gamero, Carla Rojas and Fátima Muñoz to the first team.
The list contained eight new signings: Carlota Acín, Irene García, Nuria González, Paz Sánchez, Marta Arias, Ana Álvarez, Paula Castro and Mirdja Rodríguez.
Sergio Guillén will continue as head coach, sporting director of the women’s section and academy coordinator. His task is now to turn those additions into a team capable of competing from the opening knockout tie.
Granada have lost all three scorers from the final
The defending champions will not attempt to retain the trophy with the same team that won it.
Granada defeated Sevilla 3–2 in the 2025 final. Their goals were scored by Lauri Requena, Cristina Postigo and Sonya Keefe.
None of the three remain.
Lauri joined FC Badalona Women, Postigo announced her retirement and Keefe moved to Real Sociedad. Before the Copa Andalucía begins, Granada have recorded 14 arrivals and 13 departures.
The club have added young players such as Jenni López, Bárbara López, Gabriela Álvarez, Naiara Sanmartín and Iris Ashley, as well as footballers with Liga F experience. Granada will therefore defend the trophy with a different attacking structure and none of the three players who scored their goals in last year’s final.
Sevilla retain more players but have lost one of their final scorers
Sevilla have also changed, although their transfer activity has been less extensive.
They head into the tournament with three arrivals, six departures and six registered renewals. Among those leaving was Alba Cerrato, who scored Sevilla’s first goal in the 2025 final and has since joined Fiorentina.
Débora García, Lucía Moral and Nazareth Martín moved to Valencia, Julia Torres joined Barcelona and Chantal Hagel signed for Stuttgart.
Laura Pérez, Sandra Castelló and Clau Blanco are the three additions made before the start of the Copa Andalucía. Andrea Álvarez, who scored Sevilla’s other goal in last year’s final, remains at the club.
Granada and Sevilla will have one fewer knockout tie in which to settle their reshaped squads. The two Liga F representatives enter directly in Wednesday’s semi-finals, while their potential opponents must begin on Sunday.
The Copa Andalucía will not determine which project works across the entire season. It will provide an initial comparison.
On Sunday, Málaga and Betis will pit the continuity of an established group against a rebuild that followed two consecutive relegations. Sporting and Córdoba will present two different forms of renewal: 12 players remain with the Huelva side, while Córdoba have added eight signings and promoted three footballers from their academy.
Granada and Sevilla will be able to observe those ties before entering the competition on Wednesday. By then, the Copa Andalucía will have provided the first indication of how six very different approaches to squad building translate onto the pitch.