Friday, January 7, 2011

Spanish Copa del Rey Thursday Review

Spanish Copa del Rey Thursday Review

Real Madrid will face local rivals Atletico in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey despite losing at Levante.

Second-half goals from Xisco and Sergio earned Levante a 2-0 home win over a much-changed Madrid side, but with Mourinho`s men having won the first leg 8-0 the tie was all but over before kick-off.

With such a huge advantage, Mourinho opted to leave a host of senior players out for the trip to Valencia, including the ill Cristiano Ronaldo who missed his first match of the season.

There was little goalmouth action at either end before Levante took the lead on the hour-mark through Xisco, who slotted in from the penalty spot after his cross had struck the hand of Fernando Gago inside the area.

Madrid almost drew level in the 82nd minute when Kaka, making his second appearance since recovering from his long-term injury absence, headed against the crossbar. But three minutes later Levante settled the match with a second goal.

Veteran midfielder Sergio was the goalscorer, fired a fine free-kick into the near top corner of the net to consign Mourinho to his second loss following the 5-0 mauling against Barcelona at the Nou Camp.

Madrid, who have not won the Copa del Rey since 1993, will now face Atletico, who defeated Espanyol 2-1 on aggregate following a 1-1 draw in Barcelona this evening.

Sergio Aguero gave last season`s runners-up Atletico the lead in the 24th minute and even though Espanyol equalised deep into injury-time through Luis Garcia, it was not enough to deny Quique Sanchez Flores` men a shot at Real.

Villarreal staged a memorable comeback against local rivals Valencia to set up a last eight showdown against holders Sevilla.

Villarreal held Valencia to a goalless draw at the Mestalla in the first leg but that hard work looked set to be wasted as Los Che took a 2-0 lead in the return meeting through goals from Ever Banega and Roberto Soldado in the opening 22 minutes.

However, the Yellow Submarine staged a stunning second-half recovery, scoring twice in the first four minutes after the break through Santi Cazorla and Giuseppe Rossi to level the scores up, and then securing a 4-2 triumph with further strikes from Marco Ruben and Rossi.

Rossi`s brace saw the Italy international become the leading goalscorer in Villarreal history, moving two clear of Diego Forlan, who netted 59 times for the club.

There was another brave fightback on the Balearic Islands, but Real Mallorca left themselves with too much ground to make up on Almeria as the Andalusian side progressed through to the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.

Almeria, leading 4-3 from the first leg, looked to be cruising as a braces from Pablo Piatti and Juanma Ortiz put them 4-0 ahead at half-time and 8-3 in front overall.

Mallorca threatened a miracle recovery though after scoring three times in seven minutes through Fernando Cavenaghi (two) and Michael Pereira, but even though Almeria were then reduced to 10 men in the 84th minute when Fabian Vargas was sent off, Michael Laudrup`s men could not make any further in-roads.

Almeria next face Deportivo La Coruna, who knocked out Segunda Division Cordoba last night.

There will be lower league representation in the last eight though after second division leaders Real Betis knocked out top flight Getafe and their reward will be clash with Primera Division pacesetters Barcelona.

Betis were trailing 2-1 from the first leg at home but won the return meeting 3-1. All the goals came in the second half, with Betis building a 3-0 advantage through Jorge Molina and Ruben Castro (two) before Getafe netted an injury-time consolation through Javi Casquero.


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