Rayo Vallecano (0) 2 - Alavés (3) 1

Rayo: Lopetegui; Ballesteros, Urbano, Mingo (Alcázar 70'); Poschner, Quevedo; Glaucio, Cembranos, Michel; Bolo (Bartelt 65'), Bolic. 3-2-3-2.
Alavés: Herrera; Contra, Sarriegi, Karmona, Eggen, Ibon Begoña; Magno (Vucko 57'), Tomic (Pablo 72'), Desio, Jordi Cruyff (Azkoitia 70'); Iván Alonso. 5-4-1.

Goals:
0-1. 19. Jordi Cruyff. Shot low past keeper after Contra cross played on by Alonso.
1-1. 41. Quevedo. Shot from left of area after ball passed through by Bolic.
2-1. 79. Luis Cembranos (penalty). Following foul by Karmona on Bolic in area.

Logic prevailed in the other quarter final between Spanish clubs, with Alavés going through on the strength of the three goals scored in the first leg despite losing their first game in the competition. The tie was settled as early as the twentieth minute when Jordi Cruyff opened the scoring for the visitors, leaving Rayo with the impossible task of scoring five goals to go through. Cruyff has become a bit of a specialist in scoring vital goals after hitting the winner against Inter Milan in the last round.

Both managers picked the teams according to their needs, with Juande Ramos taking a page out of Serra Ferrer's book with an aggressive line up which included five attacking players. Mané on the other hand packed his team with defenders, and even allowed himself the luxury of resting his star striker Javi Moreno, with Iván Alonso playing alone up front. Bolic should have scored early on for Rayo, but they were always vulnerable at the back and they paid the price with Cruyff's goal. Before half time they were level though, thanks to an excellent move involving Michel and Bolic which Quevedo finished off.

The second half was played almost entirely in the Alavés half, but Mané had constructed an impenetrable wall which only Quevedo seemed capable of breaking down, forcing a great save out of Herrera and then hitting the post with a header later on. With ten minutes to go the flamboyant French referee Claude Colombo gave a dubious penalty to the home side after a clash between Bolic and Karmona, and Luis Cembranos gave the 11,500 crowd some comfort scoring from the spot. But they were never going to win this tie, and Alavés go through to take on Kaiserslauten in the semi-final. It was sad that one had to go out, both having done so well in their first ever season in Europe, but Spain have two teams in the semi-finals, and with three in the quarter finals of the Champions League their domination of Europe continues.