La Liga - Real crash out of Copa

Eurosport - Thu, 17 Jan 10:48:00 2008

Real Madrid crashed out of the Copa del Rey after a shock 1-0 home defeat to Mallorca in the last 16.

FOOTBALL 2007-2008 Copa del Rey Real Madrid-Mallorca Gonzalo Higuaín Higuain - 0

A late goal from Ariel Ibagaza gave the Balaeric Islanders a stunning win at the Santiago Bernabeu to dent what has been an excellent start for the Liga leaders under new boss Bernd Schuster.

Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, hosts Real dominated from the start but were stunned with seven minutes to go as Ibagaza scored with virtually Mallorca's only shot of note to seal a 3-1 aggregate triumph.

A slick Real laid siege to the Mallorca goal straight from the word go, and the hosts fashioned three good chances inside the opening six minutes.

The first saw Javier Saviola denied by Mallorca goalkeeper Miguel Moya after being put clean through, while from the resulting corner the unmarked Gonzalo Higuain saw his thunderous shot somehow blocked on the line by Borja Valero.

Two minutes later a deflected Royston Drenthe shot fell kindly to Higuain inside the box but his first-time volley flew just over the bar.

Real continued to dominate, with Julio Baptista and Guti both shooting wide from decent positions while Saviola saw two more efforts kept out by the increasingly busy Moya.

All that was in the opening 26 minutes, and it was not to get much quieter for Moya who did well to deny Higuain twice more before a totally one-sided first half somehow finished goalless.

Real coach Bernd Schuster must have been pleased with his side's overall display in the opening period, but with the team still trailing 2-1 the German opted to send on one of his big guns at half-time, with star striker Ruud van Nistelrooy replacing Saviola.

Mallorca had the first effort of the second half with a Jonas Gutierrez shot that flew high over Jerzy Dudek's crossbar, before Real re-asserted their dominance.

Van Nistelrooy saw a close-range shot saved by Moya, while Baptista screwed another chance horribly wide and Guti skimmed the crossbar from the edge of the box as Real continued to rain in shots on the Mallorca goal.

It was looking as though it was not going to be Real's night, and that proved to be the case as Mallorca shocked the home side with a late winner.

Fernando Varela launched a free-kick forward from the halfway line and Ibagaza, having sneaked in behind Fabio Cannavaro, controlled it superbly before lofting his shot over Dudek and into the net.

Getafe beat the league's bottom club Levante 4-0 on aggregate. Villarreal needed an extra-time goal from Italy striker Giuseppe Rossi to get past Recreativo with a 2-0 home win giving them a 2-1 aggregate victory.

Their reward is a meeting with Barcelona after Frank Rijkaard's side knocked out holders Sevilla on Tuesday. Barca drew 0-0 at the Nou Camp to go through on the away goals rule, having drawn 1-1 in Seville last week.

Argentine Sergio Aguero scored a great individual goal to put Atletico Madrid into the quarter-finals as they drew 1-1 at Valladolid to also progress on away goals.

They will face Valencia who, despite a seven-game winless streak in the league, overcame Betis 4-2 on aggregate with a comfortable 2-1 home win.

Racing Santander spoiled Ander Garitano's debut as coach of RealZaragoza with a 4-2 comeback win at home to earn a 5-3 aggregate victory.

Ricardo Oliveira gave Zaragoza an early lead but Racing struck back with goals from Mohamed Tchite, Oriol, Oscar Serrano and an Ezequiel Garay penalty to win the tie.

Racing face 23-time Cup winners Athletic Bilbao who beat 2006 winners Espanyol on penalties.

Andoni Iraola got a late equaliser for Athletic Club, with Espanyol down to ten men from the first half, sending the game into extra time at 2-2. There were no more goals afterwards but the visitors held their nerve to win the shootout 4-3.

Sporting Life / Eurosport