Copa del Rey: Atletico Madrid progress as holders Real Betis are knocked out | OneFootball

Wednesday saw another four Copa del Rey taking places, with four places up for grabs in the quarterfinals of the competition. Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid are seeking a trophy to save their disappointing season, while Valencia are also looking forward for more silverware under Gennaro Gattuso, having missed out of the Spanish Super Cup.

Levante 0-2 Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid were not as convincing as they’d have liked to have been in their last 16 tie against second tier side Levante, but Diego Simeone’s men are through nonetheless. The hosts had the better of the play in the first half and had a couple of chances to take the lead, but failed to do so.

After the interval, they were punished by a ruthless Atleti side, who took the lead courtesy of Alvaro Morata. The striker was played in by Marcos Llorente, and he fired past Levante keeper Joan Femenias.

Atleti sealed the win late on, when Llorente himself scored after being set up by Nahuel Molina. The result means that Simeone can still win silverware in his potential final season.

Real Betis 2-2 Osasuna (Osasuna win 4-2 on penalties)

Last season’s Copa winners are out of the competition, despite having led twice in their tie against Osasuna. The enigmatic William Carvalho gave Betis the lead in the second half, but Osasuna forward David Garcia equalised late on to send the game to extra time.

Betis will be used to the playing an extra 30 minutes, having done so against Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup last week, and they led for the second when Youssouf Sabaly netted after 103 minutes. Unfortunately for Los Verdiblancos, they conceded three minutes later when Garcia grabbed his second.

That meant penalties were required, and Osasuna held their nerve to progress. They scored all four of their efforts, while Sergio Canales and Guido Rodriguez missed for Betis to send them out of the competition.

Sporting Gijon 0-4 Valencia

Valencia looked to have turned a corner since their disappointing La Liga defeat to Cadiz 12 days ago. Since then, Los Che took Real Madrid all the way in the Super Cup semifinal, and have now dispatched of Sporting Gijon with the Copa with ease.

Edinson Cavani netted in either half for Valencia, who also had Justin Kluivert and Samuel Lino on the scoresheet. Cavani will be hoping that this is the start of a scoring streak from him, while head coach Gattuso will believe that his team have a chance of winning the competition, having fallen at the final hurdle last season.

Athletic Club 1-0 Espanyol

Much like Valencia, Athletic Club absolutely dominated their last Copa del Rey 16 tie, but Ernesto Valverde’s side only have the one goal to show for it.

The visitors had a Joselu goal disallowed in the first half, and things were compounded when Oscar de Marcos opened the scoring three minutes later for Athletic Club. Despite their dominance, that was all they produced, but will nevertheless be pleased to have secured a place in the final eight of the competition.

Image via EFE