Copa del Rey, quarter finals, first leg

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 keepers were the stars, Valdés in particular saving from Nihat and Rossi before the break. Diego López kept out Iniesta a couple of times early in the second half, but Valdés was in action again to tip a long shot from Marcos Senna over the bar and then 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, but the Cantabrians dominated after the restart and 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 in a possible offside position, and the home side defended well as Athletic desperately tried to get a vital away goal in the final minutes. (24.01.08)

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. David Villa went close with a coupe of free kicks early on, but the turning point came with less than half an hour on the clock when Motta was sent off after picking up two bookings in three minutes. 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, and although Villa and Vicente went close they 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. 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 threw on all his fire power after that, but their first real attempt at goal didn't come until near the end, when Pereyra fired a shot over the top. (23.01.07)