Quarter finals, first leg

Valencia beat Atlético Madrid 1-0 in their first leg tie on Wednesday night to take a slim advantage into next week's return game. Ronald Koeman put out a strong side, and David Villa went close with a coupe of free kicks early on, the first hitting the top of the bar and the second bringing a good save out of Falcón. The turning point came though with less than half an hour on the clock when Motta was sent off by referee Clos Gómez after picking up two bookings in three minutes, the first after an incident with Caneira and the second for a foul on Villa. A few minutes later the hosts took the lead, Silva whipping the ball past Falcón after Pablo had headed a corner back into his path trying to clear. After that it was damage limitation from Atlético, who hardly troubled Hildebrand all night. Villa went close a couple of times after the break and Valera headed a shot from Vicente off the line with the keeper beaten, but the locals were unable to add to the scoreline.

Earlier in the evening last year's beaten finalists Getafe also won 1-0 against Mallorca, who themselves had knocked out Real Madrid in the previous round of this year's competition. The game got off to a slow start, and there were no clear cut chances until Albín shot wide on the stroke of half time. Michael Laudrup's side took the lead in the seventh minute of the second half following a Gavilán free kick, De la Red deflecting the ball past Lux without knowing too much about it after Braulio had headed on. Manzano had rested some of his key players, but he threw on all his fire power after that, including Güiza and Ibagaza. However their first real attempt at goal didn't come until near the end when Pereyra fired a shot over the top, and Belenguer and Gavilán could both have increased the lead later on. (23.01.07)

Barcelona were the only away side to come away with anything, a 0-0 draw at Villarreal setting them up for the return in the Nou Camp. Henry shot just wide of the post in the opening minutes, but after that the two goalkeepers were the stars, Víctor Valdés saving from Nihat and Rossi before the break, and Diego López keeping out Giovani and bravely blocking an effort from Márquez. Rijkaard brought on Messi after the interval and the visitors pushed forward, Diego López having to keep out Iniesta a couple of times early in the second half, and Bojan and Zambrotta both going close. But Valdés was in action again to tip a long shot from Marcos Senna over the bar, and then had to be on his toes to beat away a swerving free kick from Nihat late on.

Racing Santander took a big step towards their first ever cup semi-final with a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao. Both sides had chances before the break, with Serrano bringing a good save out of Aranzubia and Bolado shooting wide, and Aduriz going close at the other end a couple of times. The Cantabrians dominated after the restart though, with Bolado, Tchité and substitute Smolarek all failing to hit the target. And they took the lead with a quarter of an hour to go when Tchité headed Colsa's long cross over Aranzubia. Three minutes later Smolarek turned in a wayward shot from Pablo Alvarez close to goal, referee Fernández Borbolán waving away claims for offside. And after that Marcelino's side defended well as Athletic desperately tried to get a vital away goal, Coltorti saving from Gabilondo and Garmendia and Tiko also frustrated by the local defence. (24.01.08)