Real Madrid stun Villarreal with Spanish Cup comeback, Barcelona thrash Ceuta

VILLAREAL, Spain: 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. “After a very bad first half, the second was different — we pushed, took risks, had courage,” Ancelotti told Teledeporte. “I told them they had to wake up, we had lost a lot of battles, we weren’t risking much in the press, they were looking for counters but it was a risk we had to take.

“The team was not well positioned, they were too open, and lacked strength in the duels.” Villarreal, who impressed while beating Madrid in La Liga earlier in January, started brilliantly, Capoue lashing home a stunning strike from Gerard Moreno’s flick into his path. Quique Setien’s side had won six of their last seven games and drawn the other and they played with confidence in the first half. By contrast, Madrid looked chastened after their recent results and the early goal conceded.