Valencia 1-1 Real: Thanks to Benzema, the White Eagles advance to the semi-finals.

Early this morning, the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-final matches took place. Although Real Madrid didn't achieve the victory they hoped for, they still advanced to the next round.

Having won 2-0 in the first leg, Real Madrid held a significant advantage going into the second leg. A draw, or even a 0-1 defeat, would still be enough for Jose Mourinho's team to advance to the semi-finals. However, despite having just thrashed their opponents 5-0 in La Liga, Real didn't take anything for granted and fielded their strongest lineup. Unfortunately, goalkeeper Iker Casillas suffered an injury and had to leave the field after only 17 minutes. Nevertheless, Real didn't struggle, as they continued to play well, controlled the game, and created early opportunities.



Benzema scores again for Real.

The goal could have come earlier if Ronaldo had passed the ball to Benzema, who was unmarked in the center, instead of shooting from a tight angle. Immediately afterwards, Di Maria's powerful shot also missed. Then, in the 43rd minute, the opening goal arrived. A misjudged ball by a Valencia defender created an opportunity for Benzema to face the Valencia goalkeeper, and the French striker didn't miss the chance to put Real ahead.

Unfortunately for the visitors, left-back Fabio Coentrao received his second yellow card and was sent off early in the second half. Valencia quickly capitalized on the opportunity to equalize with a well-timed volley from Costa.

Having a numerical advantage and an equalizer, Valencia played better and created several good attacking opportunities. However, they were unable to score due to the poor performance of their strikers. Even when Real were reduced to nine men after Di Maria received a red card in the 88th minute, Valencia couldn't capitalize on the chance.

The final score was 1-1, and Real Madrid advanced to the semi-finals with a 3-1 aggregate score over two legs.

In the other match, at their home stadium Sanchez Pizjuan, Sevilla easily secured a resounding 4-0 victory against Zaragoza. The home team's goals were scored by Negredo (36', 67'), Rakitic (45'), and Del Moral (90'). Sevilla's easy win was largely due to Zaragoza's own mistakes, having received two early red cards.

According to Bongdaplus - National Team