Atletico Madrid were so poor in the first half against fourth-division visitors Sant Andreu on Wednesday that a shock Copa del Rey elimination was not a far-fetched possibility.
However, three goals in the opening 10 minutes of the second period guided Atletico’s second-string team to a 4-0 victory at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Barcelona and Sevilla also beat lower-division clubs, while Villarreal recorded an 8-0 rout of second-tier Almeria with four goals by Cameroon striker Karl Toko-Ekambi.
Thomas Lemar scored for Atletico in the 48th minute, Nikola Kalinic in the 53rd, Angel Correa in the 55th and Victor “Vitolo” Machin in the 81st to secure Diego Simeone’s team a place in the last 16 following a 5-0 aggregate victory.
Barcelona advanced 5-1 on aggregate after their reserves cruised past third-division Cultural Leonesa 4-1 at the Camp Nou.
Denis Suarez scored a goal in each half, while Munir El Haddadi and Malcom were on target before halftime.
Josep Sene netted in the second period for Cultural.
Toko-Ekambi became the first Villarreal player to score four goals in a match this century, leading the club to an 11-3 aggregate win. He netted three times in the first half and once in the second.
Carlos Bacca scored twice, while Gerard Moreno and Dani Raba added a goal each.
In all first-division ties, Girona came from behind to defeat Deportivo Alaves 2-1 and advance 4-3 on aggregate, while Real Sociedad beat RC Celta de Vigo 2-0 to go through 3-1 overall.
Alaves struck first at the Estadi Montilivi in Catalonia with an own-goal by Pedro Alcala in the 62nd minute, but the hosts rallied through Alex Granell in the 74th and Cristian “Portu” Portugues in the 79th to reach the last 16 for the first time.
Sociedad sunk Celta with two superb goals by Mikel Oyarzabal and Adnan Januzaj. Oyarzabal netted in the 10th with a booming long-range shot into the top corner and Januzaj scored in the 27th with a curling strike.
Sevilla edged third-division Villanovense 1-0 to advance following a 0-0 first-leg draw. Andre Silva scored the winner early in the second half, converting the rebound after missing a penalty.
Real Valladolid came from behind to defeat second-tier Mallorca 2-1 and progress 4-2 on aggregate.
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