The first legs of the Copa del Rey quarterfinal ties are complete and things are going pretty much as everyone expected. All four of the “favorites” earned wins this week, though is slightly different fashion.
Copa del Rey, Quarterfinals: No alarms, no surprises in the first legs
All four of the perceived favorites earned wins in this week quarterfinal first leg matches.
Manuel Queimadelos Alonso
Real Madrid were their typical uninspiring selves against Espanyol in a 1-0 victory. Karim Benzema scored the lone goal for Los Blancos as they will not return home for the second leg. It was a class Ancelotti Madrid performance as they did enough to win and managed to seemingly find ways to not do more.
A Mikel González brace helped give Real Sociedad a commanding 3-1 lead over Racing Santander. His two first half goals were added to midway through the second half by Carlos Vela with Mamadou Kone picking up an away goal late for the visitors. If Santander can make a comeback in the second leg, that goal could potentially be important.
Barcelona all but ended their quarterfinal against Levante with a 4-1 first leg victory. Things didn't look quite as certain for the Blaugrana with the match tied after a hour but a late hat trick from Cristian Tello saved the day for Gerardo Martino.
In the final match of the week, Atlético Madrid squeaked by Athletic Bilbao 1-0 thanks to a 41st minute goal from Diego Godiín. Striker Diego Costa continued his cold streak, remaining scoreless in 2014.
Espanyol 0-1 Real Madrid
Real Sociedad 3-1 Racing Santander
Levante 1-4 Barcelona
Atlético Madrid 1-0 Athletic Bilbao
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