This week domestic cup’s takes center stage in both Italy and Spain with play in the Coppa Italia and Copa del Rey.
Copa del Rey
Real Madrid beat city rival Atletico Madrid 3-1 in the first leg of their Cope del Rey match-up. Madrid recovered from the shock of conceding early on to Diego Forlán at the Santiago Bernabéu. Sergio Ramos headed in the equaliser from Ángel Di María’s corner on 14 minutes, paving the way for Cristiano Ronaldo, moments after Forlán had struck the post, and Mesut Özil to put José Mourinho’s team in control ahead of the second leg on 20 January.
In the night’s other tie, Knut Rindaroy’s 35th-minute own-goal gave Almeria a 1-0 victory against Deportivo La Coruna. The winner of that series is likely to face record 25-time champion Barcelona, which beat Real Betis 5-0 on Wednesday.
Coppe Italia
Gianluigi Buffon, who has been out since injuring his back playing for Italy in the opening match at the World Cup this summer, returned to action for Juventus and helped them reach Italian Cup quarterfinals by beating Napoli 2-0. Milos Krasic opened the scoring from Alessandro Del Piero’s cross, and the Juventus captain was again the creator for Simone Pepe early in the second half. Juve will meet either Roma or Lazio in the quarterfinals.
