Easy win for Real Madrid in Copa del Rey

Real Madrid all but assured their progress into the last 16 of the Spanish Copa del Rey knockout competition with a 4-1 win away to third tier Alcoyano in the first leg of their Copa del Rey tie. Although there is a return leg in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in two week' s time, goals from Karim Benzema, who scored twice Kaka, B-team player Jose Rodriguez were enough to secure an easy win against the Alcoyano, who netted a consolation goal thanks to Javi Lara. The second leg will have little emotion as it would need a miracle for Alcoyano to defeat Real Madrid 4-0 in their own backyard and perhaps this serves to highlight problems with the organization of the knockout competition which often means there is little emotion in the ties. Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid had an easy 0-3 win away to a Jaen side that had to play for 70 minutes with a player less after having defender Dan Torres sent off for handball. Adrian Lopez, Diego Costa and Raul Garcia scored Atletico' s goals, which virtually assure their progress into the next round. Malaga won 4-3 away to third tier side Cacereno thanks in part to two goals from Roque Santa Cruz, while Zaragoza defeated Granada with a Carlos Aranda goal. Rayo Vallecano lost 1-0 away to second division Las Palmas, the only goal of the game came after 21 minutes from striker Thievy, who is on loan from Espanyol. The only other 'surprise' saw Almeria defeat Celta Vigo 2-0. The second division side beat the team promoted at the end of last season thanks to goals from Jonathan and Abel Molinero. Tuesday saw Barcelona win 3-0 away to Deportivo Alaves, while Valencia defeated third tier, Llagostera 0-2.