Fifth round, first leg

The fifth round kicked off on Wednesday with six ties, the pick of the bunch being the fixture between Sevilla and Barcelona, which ended 1-1.Henry opened the scoring for Frank Rijkaard's side after controlling a long ball from Márquez midway through the first half, but Chevantón headed a Diego Capel cross over from close up, and Capel himself drove home a long corner to equalise shortly before half time. The locals started the second half well, Valdés getting enough on a powerful Chevantón header to tip it on to the bar and then saving from a Luis Fabiano free kick. Barça could have gone ahead again when De Sanctis just managed to push a long shot from Edmilson against the post, and substitute Kerzhakov headed a good chance wide near the end.

Barça's neighbours Espanyol also drew 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao, extending their unbeaten run to a record 17 games. After a short delay to repaint the touch-lines (Caparrós had tried unsuccessfully to make the pitch narrower), the game began. Angel headed a corner over the bar early on, with Susaeta, Muñoz and Yeste all going close for the locals at the other end before the break. With twenty minutes to go Jonathan Soriano controlled a long pass from Luis García to lob a shot over the head of Aranzubia, and the visitors could have gone further into the lead when Jonathan and Torrejón both had shots blocked. But ten minutes from the end Susaeta latched on to a loose ball on the edge of the area to beat Lafuente and level the scores.

Two goals from Joaquín were enough to give Valencia a 1-2 win against a Betis side who included three B team players in the line up. The ex Betis winger headed past Castro twice early on, the first from Silva's cross and the second from Mata's, and got the ball in the net a third time before the break only to see the strike ruled out for offside. Pavone got one back after Fernando headed on Caffa's corner after the break, Mata only able to turn the ball in to his own net trying to clear. Both sides were left with ten men when Arizmendi and then Somoza were both sent off for second bookable offences, and Betis almost equalised when Hildebrand saved from Caffa late on.

Valencia's city rivals Levante are virtually out though after losing 3-0 at Getafe. Albín got the first before half time with a free kick which bounced past everybody, and Kujovic did well to keep out Pablo Hernández a couple of times before the break. Casquero got a second though after the restart, coming from behind to fire a shot past the keeper after Albín laid the ball back, and Albín hit the bar with a free kick before Pablo Hernández made it three, driving a shot into the roof of the net after Celestini laid the ball across goal. After that De Biasi used the occasion to try out a couple of B team players, who will have to fill the gaps left by those leaving the club.

Recreativo have had some good cup runs in previous years, and they are on track for a place in the last eight against either Barcelona or Sevilla after a 1-0 win over Villarreal. On loan Martín Cáceres headed the only goal against his employers from a second minute Pampa Calvo corner, and Diego López had to be on his toes to keep out Marquitos soon afterwards. The visitors could have equalised later in the first half, with Cani hitting the foot of the post and Cazorla and Mati Fernández shooting wide, but Recre regrouped after the restart and Marquitos could have added a second late on.

Zaragoza and Racing Santander left everything to next week's second leg after drawing 1-1. Pablo Alvarez came close early on when his shot was deflected on to the crossbar, but Oliveira missed an easy chance before making up for it, opening the scoring with a low free kick which took a slight deflection off the defensive wall to wrong-foot Coltorti. Diego Milito fired another good chance over the bar, but with a quarter of an hour to go Sergio was sent off for tripping Oscar Serrano from behind in the area, and Garay rifled home the resulting penalty. Numbers were evened up when Luis Fernández was shown a red card for a two-footed tackle on D'Alessandro, and Oliveira and Pavón both came close to restoring the lead in the final minutes. (09.01.07)

Disappointing results for both Madrid sides on Thursday. Real Madrid lost 2-1 to Mallorca, a first defeat for Bernd Schuster's side in over six weeks. The Balearic Islanders started well, Trejo, Víctor and Varela all going close in the opening minutes, and Dudek doing well to push a wide shot from Fernando Navarro for round the post. Borja Valero's corner kick bounced past everyone though, and Trejo collected the ball and turned a shot into the net. A minute later however Madrid were level, Ramis cutting out Sneijder's cross but the ball falling to Higuaín, who volleyed a shot into the top corner before the ball hit the ground.

Referee Delgado Ferreira turned down two penalty appeals by Mallorca before the break for fouls by Dudek on Trejo (who had to be substituted by Arango) and Salgado on Borja, but just four minutes after the restart Arango ran through from midfield to shoot low past Dudek and restore the lead. After that there were chances at both ends, Saviola firing a shot straight at Moyà when free, Arango bringing a good save out of Dudek with a first time volley, and Moyà tipping a wide free kick from Guti over the bar. But this time there was no last minute escape for Madrid, and they will have to overturn the result in the Bernabeu next week if they are to stay in the competition.

Atlético Madrid could only draw 0-0 at home to Valladolid, the only point in their favour a clean sheet by Falcón to take into next week's tie. The locals should have gone ahead as early as the first minute, Forlán beating the offside trap but uncharacteristically allowing Alberto to deflect his shot wide. Estoyanoff brought a good save out of Falcón, but Alberto blocked a shot from Luis García and Cifuentes stopped Forlán's follow up with his arm, the referee waving away appeals for a penalty. Reyes shot wide and Forlán missed another sitter, shooting against the post with the goal at his mercy, and Luis García also had a couple more efforts before the break. But Atlético ran out of steam in the second half, and the visitors could even have come away with a victory had Sisi been able to beat Falcón near the end. (10.01.08)