Second-division side CD Mirandes caused an upset by knocking RC Deportivo de La Coruna out of the Copa del Rey on Tuesday, while Sevilla also advanced to the quarter-finals after making light work of city rivals Real Betis Balompie.
Mirandes drew last week’s last-16 first-leg tie at their Estadio Municipal de Anduva in Miranda de Ebro, Spain, and a Daniel Provencio double either side of an Abdon Prats strike in the return game secured a superb 3-0 win on the night and a 4-1 aggregate success.
“We knew it was a big game for us and were confident of getting a good result,” said Provencio, whose side reached the semi-finals in 2012 before falling to eventual runners-up Athletic Bilbao.
Photo: EPA
“It does not really matter who we get drawn against in the next round,” the former Rayo Vallecano de Madrid midfielder added. “We have our weapons and will fight for everything.”
Deportivo, hammered 5-0 at Real Madrid in La Liga at the weekend, were whistled by their own fans as they fell to a team who were in the fourth tier less than a decade ago and have never played in the top flight.
It was a huge blow for the Galician club, who came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Spanish and European champions Barcelona in La Liga last month and are ninth at the halfway stage of the campaign.
“They are a very good team, very intense and they played very well,” Deportivo midfielder Alejandro Bergantinos said. “We just have to look at what went wrong and make sure it does not happen in the league.”
Sevilla put themselves in a strong position when they won 2-0 at Betis last week and a crushing 4-0 success in the return at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan sent the UEFA Europa League holders through 6-0 on aggregate.
The tie was effectively over when captain Jose Antonio Reyes struck after four minutes, before defender Adil Rami was left unmarked at a 35th-minute corner and cracked the ball past Betis goalkeeper Antonio Adan to make it 2-0.
Forward Kevin Gameiro raced away to score in the 73rd minute moments after coming off the bench to replace Fernando Llorente, while Gael Kakuta, another substitute, completed the scoring in the 89th minute.
Atletico Madrid, the 2012-2013 winners, and Rayo are level at 1-1 after last week’s first leg, with the return at the Estadio Vicente Calderon in Madrid tonight.
Gary Neville’s Valencia lead Granada 4-0 heading into tonight’s return in Andalusia, Spain.
The quarter-finals are to be played over two legs later this month, with the semi-finals at the start of next month and the final on May 21.
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