Valencia, Deportivo eliminated

Valencia, Deportivo eliminated
DUNCAN SHAW

MADRID, JANUARY 4: League champions Deportivo Coruna and current league leaders Valencia both amazingly crashed out of the Spanish Cup, a tournament revitalized by the introduction of a new format.

Deportivo lost 3-2 away to second-division leaders tenerife yesterday while Valencia went out on penalties away to third-division Guadix after a heart-stopping 4-4 draw.

In total, no less than seven first-division teams were beaten in the third round, thanks to a combination of the German and English Cup systems having been adopted. In the early rounds, first-division sides now have to play away to lower division teams on a single-leg basis.

In December, five first-division sides were eliminated in the second round, with European Champions Real Madrid astonishingly losing 2-1 against third-division Toledo.

Only eight first-division sides now remain in the competition, which will revert to its traditional two-leg formula for next week's fourth round.

Yesterday, it was Valencia's turn to be surprised by a humble, hard-working third-division side, cheered on by a capacity crowd in a tiny venue.

A third of the 15,000 inhabitants of Guadix, in Granada province, packed into their ramshackle stadium and could hardly believe their eyes as their unfancied hometown team quickly swept into an unlikely 3-0 lead, thanks to early goals from Carlos Poyo, Pichi Gonzlaez and Samuel Garcia.

Vicente Rodriguez and Ruben Baraja quickly pulled back goals for reserve-packed Valencia, only for Samuel to make it 4-2 midway through the second half.

Valencia needed two late goals from substitute Zlatko Zahovic to make it to extra time, which produced no goals. Guadix won 6-5 on penalties with Miguel Angel Angulo missing the vital kick for Hector Cuper's side.

League champions Deportivo Coruna, meanwhile, were losing 3-2 away to Tenerife, for whom Russian forward Igor Simutenkov was a two-goal hero.

Valladolid lost 2-1 away to Extremadura while Las Palmas lost by the same scoreline in tiny Torrelavega, and Numancia went down 2-0 in Leganes.

Osasuna lost 3-1 away to fallen giants Atletico Madrid, now in the second. On Tuesday, Villarreal lost on penalties in Granada, after a tight 1-1 draw.

There was no surprise, though, in Ceuta, where Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 win despite having to make an uncomfortable journey by plane and ferry to North Africa. Alfonso Perez silenced the capacity crowd in Ceuta with two second-half goals before Patrick Kluivert added a late third.

Celta Vigo had a harder time of it away to Compostela and needed injury-time goals from Edu and Valeri Karpin to claim a 3-1 win.

Rayo Vallecano were relieved to escape from Toledo with a 1-0 result. Racing Santander had an easier time in Badajoz, winning 4-0. Mallorca and Zaragoza both cruised to 3-0 wins, away to Xerex and Beasain respectively.

On Tuesday, holders Espanyol won 2-0 away to Levante while Athletic Bilbao came back from a goal down to win 2-1 in the Madrid suburb of San Sebastian de Los Reyes. (DPA)