Valencia, Celta, Barcelona and Almería all through in the Copa del Rey

After Real Madrid and Sevilla qualified for the last 16 of the Copa del Rey, another four sides booked their place in the next round of the cup. Valencia CF, RC Celta, FC Barcelona and UD Almería saw off competition from Rayo Vallecano, la UD Las Palmas, la SD Huesca and Real Betis, respectively in the fourth round.

Valencia did not have things easy against Rayo in what was an authentic exhibition of football, and came close to going out. After winning 1-2 at Vallecas, Nuno Espírito Santo’s men booked their place in the next round with a 4-4 draw. The home side had trailed 1-3, but managed to come back in the nick of time. A Paco Alcácer brace in additions to strikes from Rodrigo Moreno and a Jorge Morcillo own goal were enough to equal goals from Jozabed, Pozuelo, Jonathan Pereira and Embarba.

At Balaídos, Las Palmas also came close to surprising Celta. Joaquín Larrivey and Santi Mina gave the Galician outfit a two goal lead, but Nauzet Alemán made it 2-1, equalling the first leg score, seemingly sending the game to extra time. However, Fabián Orellana popped up in the 93rd minute to make it 3-1 and give Celta the win.

At the Camp Nou, Barcelona gave Huesca no chance, and after the 4-0 first leg result, the Catalan outfit put on a show, running out 8-1 winners with goals from Pedro Rodríguez (3), Sergi Roberto, Andrés Iniesta, Adriano Correia, Adama Traoré and Sandro Ramírez. Carlos David scored for the visitors.

Finally, following their 3-4 first leg win, Almería saw off Betis 2-1. After an even first half, the home side sealed an aggregate victory thanks to goals from Míchel Macedo and Jonathan Zongo. Damien Perquis scored for the visitors, but it was not enough.