Madrid, Jan 6 (IANS) The third-round matches of the Copa del Rey knockout tournament produced some upsets this weekend, but so far most of the main favourites have progressed to the last 16.
Barcelona, Sevilla, and Valladolid were among the top-flight clubs that won their matches while Las Palmas crashed out and Logrones pushed Athletic Club of Bilbao to the limit before the Cup holder survived the scare.
Here are four things we learned this weekend in Spain.
1. Barcelona keep focus after a difficult week
FC Barcelona may be immersed in chaos off the pitch with its failure to register Dani Olmo and Pau Victor in its first-team squad due to financial fair play rules, but coach Hansi Flick deserves credit for keeping the rest of his squad focused.
Barcelona produced a professional display to win 4-0 away to fourth-tier Barbastro on Saturday, with Flick fielding a strong side to avoid risks against a rival it only beat 3-2 last season, reports Xinhua. Flick will have been pleased to see Pablo Torre step up into Olmo’s role with an impressive display, while the return of Ronald Araujo gives him more options to rotate a defense that has had a hectic first half to the season.
2. Logrones push Cup holder Athletic Club
Athletic Club Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde said ahead of the defending champion’s Copa del Rey debut away to fourth-tier Logrones that games against lower division rivals made him “panic”, and 120 minutes in the Las Gaunas Stadium showed that Valverde was right to worry.
He gave minutes to several fringe players in Saturday’s game and although Athletic never suffered in defense, on a dry and slow pitch it was unable to impose the speed needed to score against a side that has only conceded nine goals all season and who knocked Girona out on penalties in the previous round. Logrones took the game to a penalty shootout, where Athletic goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala was again his side’s hero as in last season’s final, but Valverde won’t want a repeat of that lottery in the next round.
3. Las Palmas crash out again
Las Palmas’ visit to in-form second division Elche always threatened to be an upset, with the visitor more focused on assuring top-flight survival, rather than progressing in the Copa del Rey.
Nevertheless, few would have expected Elche to hammer the visitors 4-0, with Las Palmas giving a display that implied they have suffered an eight-hour flight, rather than the two-and-a-half hours it takes to fly to Spain from the Canary Islands. The cup is clearly not for Las Palmas as this is the seventh consecutive year they have failed to make the last-16, implying the tournament is clearly not on their agenda.
4. Other top-flight sides also pay price
The Sevilla fans who followed their team to Almeria demanded explanations from their players after a 4-1 humiliation to second-division leader Almeria, who completely outplayed them after falling behind by an early goal. Bottom of the table Valladolid showed the depth of their problems as it allowed Ourense to twice come from behind to win 3-2, while fourth-tier Pontevedra completely outplayed last season’s beaten finallist, Mallorca, who also looked as if they would rather have not got off the plane.
–IANS
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