Copa del Rey, Quarterfinals: Atlético Madrid joins rivals Real Madrid in the semfinals

Barcelona fell behind early but answered with five goals as they hammered Levante 5-1 on the day, 9-2 on aggregate, to advance to the semifinals for the Copa del Rey.

Barcelona responded in the 28 minute when Adriano fired a low show from outside the area that elude Javi and found a place in the bottom corner of the goal to even the match at 1-1.

Atleético Madrid came out of the gate strong and nearly doubled their aggregate advantage in the opening minute when Diego Costa roared in against Iago Herrerín, but was denied by the Athletic goalkeeper.

Athletic settled after the initial flurry and slowly took control of the match, building up pressure against Atéti until finally in the 42nd minute they opened the scoring.

Levante need a minor miracle to overturn the first leg result, especially with the second leg being at the Camp Nou. Les Granotes have visited the stadium seven times since their first trip during the 1963-64 season and have never won a match there.

Barcelona injuries and suspensions

With just a one goal advantage after the first leg, Real Madrid knew they needed an early goal to put Espanyol under serious pressure. It took barely over seven minutes for Los Blancos to score.

Any slim chances of an Espanyol comeback were dashed in the 77th minute when defender Víctor Sánchez was shown a second yellow card for an extremely harsh handball call. The ball appeared to bounce into Sánchez’s arm, with not obvious intent from the defender, but the referee was quick to send him off.