No surprises in Copa del Rey

Madrid, Nov 29 (IANS) The Copa del Rey knockout competition produced no shocks as all of the top flight sides qualified for the next round of the tournament.

David Villa scored twice as FC Barcelona defeated Alaves 3−1 in the Camp Nou to qualify 6−1 on aggregate.

Adriano also scored for Barca after Alaves had taken the lead through Viguera on Wednesday night on which Barca coach Tito Vilanova rested most of his first choice players and saw Thiago Alcantara, Adriano and Villa return after injury problems, reports Xinhua.

New Espanyol coach Javier Aguirre will have seen the depth of the task awaiting him as the side bottom of La Liga also crashed out of the Copa del Rey 6−1 on aggregate against Sevilla 3−0 on the night in Espanyol’s home ground.

Espanyol had Javi Lopez sent off before Diego Perotti scored from the penalty spot and Ivan Rakitic and Papa Babacar scored further goals for the visitors.

A Raul Garcia goal saw Atletico Madrid defeat Jaen 1−0 on the night and while Getafe drew 0−0 at home to Ponferadina their 4−0 win away from home saw them through with no problems.

Levante overcame a 1−0 first leg defeat in Mellila thanks to a 4−1 home win which was assured by goals from Niko, Roger, Michel and a penalty from Vicente Iborra.

An Adil Rami goal from inside his own half was the highlight of Valencia’s 3−1 home win against Llagostera. Valencia went into the game with a 3−1 lead from the first leg and further goals from Nelson Valdez and youngster Bernat assured a comfortable night in Mestalla.

IANS 2012-11-29 15:58:14