Madrid stun Villarreal, Barca thrash Ceuta

Madrid, Jan. 21: Real Madrid produced a stunning comeback from two goals down to beat Villarreal 3-2 on Thursday and book their place in the Spanish Cup quarter-finals.

Elsewhere Barcelona romped to a 5-0 win at third-tier Ceuta with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice.

Carlo Ancelotti’s Madrid side will hope the victory is a turning point after struggling in 2023. They were soundly beaten by rivals Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final last Sunday.

Los Blancos seemed poised to suffer cup elimination on Thursday, after Etienne Capoue and Samuel Chukwueze struck in the first half for the hosts.

However goals by Vinicius Junior, Eder Militao and Dani Ceballos after the break turned the last-16 clash on its head and sent Madrid, who last won the trophy in 2014, through.

It was another classic comeback for the ages from a team famed for producing them.

Barcelona lifted the Spanish Super Cup in Riyadh with a convincing triumph over Madrid, and after initially struggling to break down Ceuta’s defence, eventually cruised to victory.

Lewandowski bagged a brace, while Raphinha, Ansu Fati and Franck Kessie also netted for Barcelona, who have won the Spanish Cup a record 31 times.

Guardiola blasts City 

Pep Guardiola said Manchester City will be “destroyed” by Arsenal in the Premier League title race if they do not improve despite a stirring second half fightback to beat Tottenham 4-2 on Thursday.

Two goals in three minutes just before half-time from Dejan Kulusevski and Emerson Royal saw City staring down the barrel of a second consecutive defeat.

But Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland and Riyad Mahrez struck in a 12-minute period early in the second half before Mahrez added his second late on to move Guardiola’s men to within five points of leaders Arsenal, who have a game in hand.

City and Arsenal are still to face each other twice in the league this season, but Guardiola took aim at his players for resting on their laurels after winning four league titles in five seasons.

“We cannot deny how happy we are but we are far away from the team that we were,” said Guardiola. “I want a reaction from all the club, not just the players. We are a happy flowers organisation. I don’t want to be, I want to beat Arsenal. If we play that way, Arsenal will destroy us.”

Juventus  advance

Federico Chiesa scored his first goal for Juventus in more than a year and the Bianconeri beat Silvio Berlusconi’s Monza 2-1 Thursday to reach the Italian Cup quarterfinals.

Chiesa, who was out for 10 months after injuring his left knee last January, took a pass from Alex Sandro before firing in from the edge of the area for the winner in the 78th minute.

Moise Kean had put Juventus ahead early on following an assist from Weston McKennie before Mattia Valoti equalized for Monza before the break.

Juventus will next face Lazio, which beat Bologna 1-0 earlier with a first-half goal from Felipe Anderson.

Also, Atalanta defeated Spezia 5-2 with two goals from Ademola Lookman and one each from Hans Hateboer and Rasmus Hojlund, plus an own-goal from Ampadu. Atalanta will next face defending champion Inter Milan, which beat second-division Parma 2-1 last week. (AFP)