Copa del Rey

Quarter final, first leg

A thrilling match to end the quarter final first legs, Real Madrid running out 4-2 winners over Girona despite going behind early on. The Catalans had reached this stage of the competition for the first time in their history after knocking out Atlético the round before, and they took the lead when Lozano turned in Raúl García’s cross. Odriozola set up Lucas Vázquez for the equaliser soon afterwards though, and Sergio Ramos put the locals ahead from the penalty spot after Lozano tripped up Vinicius just before the break. Granell made it all square again with a second penalty after Marcos Llorente handled in the area, but Ramos headed in Marcelo’s cross to restore the lead, and Benzema connected with a Vinicius centre to complete the scoring with ten minutes to go. Earlier in the evening Espanyol and Betis drew 1-1, Borja Iglesias connecting with Piatti to put the locals in front on the half hour mark, and Sanabria turning in a Sergio León cross to save a draw late on. (24.01.19)

Four time defending champions Barcelona are in danger of being knocked out of the competition after they lost 2-0 at Sevilla in a repeat of last season’s final! Once again Valverde left Messi at home and put out a much changed line-up, with new signing Kevin Price Boateng up front and several key players on the bench. The locals though went two up after the break, Sarabia volleying a Promes cross past Cillessen and Ben Yedder turning in a deflected Banega shot, but even with Luis Suárez, Coutinho and Jordi Alba on the park, the visitors were not able to get the away goal they needed. (23.01.19)

We are already in to the quarter finals of the Spanish cup, and Getafe are well placed to go through after a 1-0 victory over Valencia on Tuesday evening. The locals had the better of the first half, Jaume having to save several times from Angel in particular, but the game appeared to be heading for a draw until substitute Jorge Molina finally found the net from Cabrera’s cross with a quarter of an hour or so to go. (22.01.19)