Copa del Rey, fifth round first leg

Betis and Real Madrid drew 0-0 in the last match on Thursday evening. Wagner had the best chances either side of half time, but in the end the tie ended without goals, the third game in a row that Madrid failed to score. (11.01.07)

Six more matches on Wednesday, the most surprising result being a 0-0 draw between second division B side Rayo Vallecano and Sevilla. Chevantón came close to giving the Andalusians the lead when he hit the bar with a first half free kick, but Mauri felt he should have had a penalty at the other end a few minutes before the final whistle.

Barcelona have one foot in the quarter finals after beating Alavés 0-2. Saviola got both of the goals in the second half, the first after picking up a return pass from Giuly, and the second after Márquez headed on a corner, and Motta hit the bar in the last minute.

Zaragoza also recorded a comfortable victory, beating second division Málaga 0-3. Sergio García started things off in the twelfth minute from Lafita's pass, and the striker added a second just a couple of minutes after the restart after Ewerthon set him up. And Oscar González rounded things off with a third goal later on.

Only one of the lower division sides has a real chance of going through to the last eight though, Valladolid beating Villarreal 2-1 to make it seventeen games in a row without defeat. Losada put the home side in front early on, and although José Marí headed an equaliser a minute later, Llorente restored the lead after the restart.

A good result for Deportivo, a 1-2 win over Mallorca giving them a big advantage for the second leg. All the goals came in the second half, Adrián opening the scoring for the visitors after a mistake by Moyà, and Taborda heading the second on the hour mark from a long Manuel Pablo cross. Maxi López got one back for the locals in injury time.

Valencia are also well placed after a last second 1-1 draw at Getafe in the last match of the evening. Bernd Schuster's side took the lead in the second minute when Paunovic got ahead of Butelle to head home a David Cortés cross, but substitute Villa set up David Silva for the equaliser in injury time. (10.01.07)

With European competitions on hold for the winter break, the Copa del Rey returned this week. One match was brought forward to Tuesday, Atlético Madrid and Osasuna leaving everything for the second leg after drawing 1-1 in the Vicente Calderón stadium. Webó got on the end of a pass from Miguel Flaño to put the visitors ahead shortly before the break, and they seemed to be on track for a win when Pablo was sent off for a hard tackle on the Cameroonian striker soon after the restart. But Fernando Torres produced a moment of magic, controlling the ball and firing a shot over Ricardo from wide on the left to keep his side's hopes of qualifying alive. (09.01.07)