Barcelona reach the Copa del Rey quarter-finals with a 5-1 win over Real Betis. Atletico also advance

Barcelona followed up Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final with a comfortable 5-1 win over Real Betis in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.

Gavi and Jules Koundé each scored a goal in the first half hour and Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal added to the lead in the second half to give the Catalan club victory and a place in the quarter-finals.

It was the fourth consecutive win in 2025 for Barcelona, ​​who defeated Madrid 5-2 in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to win the Spanish Super Cup.

“We wanted to keep the momentum from the Super Cup here at home in front of our fans,” Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsí said. “We will continue like this and keep our foot on the accelerator. The (Christmas) break was good for us, we were able to refresh.”

Barcelona had lost their last two matches of 2024 before going on a winning streak against Barbastro in the Copa del Rey and Athletic Bilbao and Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup.

Playmaker Dani Olmo, registered in the last minute after a long battle between Barcelona, ​​the Spanish league and the Spanish federation due to a missed deadline by the club, helped set up Gavi’s opening goal in the third minute at the Montjuic stadium. Yamal provided the pass for Kounde’s goal in the 27th.

Koundé thought he had extended the lead in first-half stoppage time, but his effort was ruled out by video review for offside. Yamal also had one called off by VAR for offside early in the second half.

Barcelona’s third goal finally counted when Raphinha found the net on a breakaway in the 58th. Torres scored the fourth from inside the area in the 67th, a few minutes after coming off the bench, and Yamal sealed it after a fine run in the 75th .

Vitor Roque scored Betis’ lone goal by converting a penalty kick in the 84th minute.

Atletico keep winning

Atletico Madrid, playing without many regular starters, dispatched second division club Elche 4-0 to extend their record winning streak to 15 games.

The club had never won more than 13 games in a row across all competitions before.

Alexander Sorloth scored from close range in the eighth and converted a penalty in the 29th minute. Rodrigo Riquelme scored the third from long range in the 61st and Julián Álvarez closed the scoring in the 75th.

Elche played a man down from the 50th after Nicolás Fernández was sent off with a second yellow card.

Other results

Álvaro Rodríguez scored two minutes into the game as Getafe won 1-0 at fourth division club Pontevedra.

The visitors played a man down from the 41st after a straight red card was shown to Rodríguez.

An 86th minute goal by Diego García gave Leganes a 3-2 win at second division club Almeria.

In other Round of 16 games on Thursday, defending champions Athletic Bilbao host Osasuna and Real Madrid welcome Celta Vigo.

___

AP football: