This is the time of year when the Spanish cup takes over, with a tight program of matches designed to get the bulk of the games out of the way before the European competitions return. The second leg of the fourth round was played mid-week, with the quarter finals scheduled for next week and the week after, before a two month break before the semi-finals. Once again second division clubs provided the surprises, and although the two second division B sides were eliminated, three second division A sides made it through to the last eight for the first time in many years. The biggest giant killing act was from Osasuna, who eliminated league leaders Deportivo de La Coruña with a second one goal victory, this time in Coruña, with a late goal from Alex. Osasuna had already knocked out first division clubs Sevilla and Valencia (who were reigning champions), and now take on Barcelona in the next round. Barcelona themselves have not looked good in this competition, and after struggling in the last round to beat second division B side Poli Almería, they were held to a goal-less draw by Ourense from the same category. Thanks to a 1-2 victory in the first leg they scraped through, but the super-substitutes, including the De Boer brothers, Hesp, Dehu, Luis Enrique and Dani, could not even get a goal in their own stadium. The other second division side to beat first division opposition was Mérida, who drew 0-0 at Oviedo after winning the first leg by 1-0. Their prize was a next round tie against Real Madrid, who got their revenge against Zaragoza, the team who had beaten them in the league 1-5 a couple of months ago. This was a different Real Madrid team, and Guti's goal in the first minute was followed by Ognjenovic's first goal for his club in the second half. The other two Madrid based first division teams, Rayo Vallecano and Atlético will meet in the next round after beating lower category opposition, with Rayo coming back from a goal down to Lleida with three goals in the last ten minutes, and Atlético ending Real Unión's cup run with a 2-0 victory, including a goal from B team youngster Marcos Márquez. The Irun based team's keeper Unaiz saved a penalty from Correa in the sixth minute. In the all second division tie, Villarreal turned around a 3-0 first leg result against Compostela including two goals from Moisés to take the game to penalties. However Compostela keeper Ponk saved two spot kicks to take them through by 4-2 in the shoot out. They will play the other Barcelona based team, Espanyol, who repeated their first leg victory over Celta with a 0-1 win in Vigo. If things go according to form, we should see two Madrid and two Barcelona clubs in the semi-finals, a mouth watering prospect, especially for the television companies.

See our cup section for full results and scorers.

The full draw for the next round, which takes place over the next two weeks, is as follows (matches 9th and 16th February except where marked):

Osasuna - Barcelona (first leg: 10 Feb)
Espanyol - Compostela
Atlético Madrid - Rayo Vallecano
Real Madrid - Mérida (second leg: 17 Feb)