Copa del rey, third round second leg

The remaining seven fixtures of the third round took place tonight, with all games being decided in the regulation ninety minutes. The biggest surprise of the day was at Vitoria, where second division Murcia won 1-2 against first division Alavés to go through to the last eight. David Vidal's side have been a bit of a revelation recently, moving up to second in their league, and after almost two and a half hours without a goal in this tie, David Karanka put them ahead following a corner. With the away goals counting double in the event of a draw, the Basques had to score twice, and they did get one goal when Rubén Navarro beat Reinke with twenty minutes to go. But to the dismay of the local fans Murcia got another five minutes later, Setvalls heading home a free kick, and even though Acciari got his marching orders in the last minute there was no way back.

Alavés were not the only one of this season's UEFA cup teams to be eliminated at this stage though. Betis are also out of the competition after they were beaten 1-0 by Andalucian neighbours Recreativo Huelva. If anything this was a bigger surprise than the defeat of Mané's side, with Betis riding high in the first division table and Recre currently in bottom place. However this was not the team which started the season in such good form, and even with Joaquín and Denilson back together again they hardly created any problems for Luque in the local goal. Xisco hit the woodwork twice, once in each half, and Raúl Molina finally got the ball past Prats near the end after Xisco intercepted a bad back pass by Luis Fernández to put the Southern port side through to their first ever quarter final. It was too much for their manager Lucas Alcaraz, and he was shown a red card by the referee near the end for protesting.

There was another unexpected result at Valladolid, where the home side were hopeful having drawn their first leg match in Mallorca. However they were hit by a whirlwind going by the name of Carlos ("Carlitos" to his friends), who struck a hat-trick in the first half hour of the match to end any chance they may have had of qualifying. The diminutive striker was getting a rare start due to the suspension of Eto'o, and he took his chances well thanks to a little help from his attack partner Pandiani. Oscar did get one back after the break, but ex Valladolid midfielder Lozano scored again for the visitors to round off a 1-4 scoreline.

Holders Deportivo La Coruña had few problems disposing of second division B side Alicante, although there were some nerves for a few minutes when the visitors squared the tie with a strike from Manolo Pérez after Toro Acuña's early goal. Amavisca put the Gallicians back in front though on the stroke of half time, and Luque put the fans' minds at rest after the break, winning a penalty when brought down by Green which Diego Tristán converted. The young striker then went on to pick up a through ball from Mauro Silva near the end and score himself to give his side a 4-1 win. During the match Alicante presented a cheque for 30,000 euros to help the fight against the oil tanker spill, representing half the gate money from the first leg.

Atlético Madrid also qualified with relative ease, beating Xerez 3-0. Luis Aragonés rested Fernando Torres, José Marí and a couple of others after the one goal victory in the first leg, but still put out a strong side with Javi Moreno leading the attack. Moreno it was who opened the scoring in the last minute of the first half, running on to Nagore's pass, and he was to get a second goal a few minutes from the end. In between Aguilera connected with Stankovic's cross to get his name on the scoresheet, and Esteban saved a Mena penalty after Coloccini had brought down the visiting forward. Xerez manager Bernd Schuster was sent off in the first half after getting booked twice for arguing with the referee.

Those Xerez fans who couldn't travel to Madrid could still watch football, as a four match ground closure meant that Sevilla were forced to play their second leg tie against Numancia in the Chapín stadium in Jerez. With a two goal lead from the first leg it was a bit of a formality, and Caparrós used the opportunity to give a run out to some of his lesser used players. Young midfielder Arteaga opened the scoring midway through the first half, and any doubts anyone might have had about the result were dissipated when Moisés added a second immediately after the restart. Sestelo did head a consolation goal for the visitors in the last minute though.

If some of the games were a formality, the match between Osasuna and second division B side Real Unión was a bit of a waste of time. The four goals scored by Aguirre's side in the first leg meant that nobody took this game seriously, and both managers put out teams without any first choice players. The visitors did add a spark to the match though when they took the lead in the first half with a silly goal, the ball finally bouncing in to the net off local defender Jusué, but they were never going to turn the game around and Muñoz made it all square in the last minute after new signing Richard Morales, making his debut in the second half, headed on a corner. (15.01.03)

Real Madrid are the first club to reach the quarter finals after beating Terrassa 4-2 on Tuesday night. Once again Del Bosque put out a team packed with reserves, but after drawing the first leg match he took the precaution of leaving Figo and Roberto Carlos on the bench. The Catalans got off to a spirited start, but the class showed through when Tote played a pass into the gap for Celades to turn the ball under Maestro midway through the first half. Then ten minutes before the break Guti was brought down in the area, and Hierro calmly stroked the ball past the keeper for Madrid's second of the night. Monty pulled a goal back for the visitors in the second half, bending a shot wide of César, but a few minutes later McManaman found Portillo for him to score, and then the English midfielder added a fourth himself with a solo effort. Besora got a late consolation goal for the second division side right at the end following a free kick. (14.01.03)