© EuroFootball.com
On Wednesday and Thursday, after playing the matches of the third stage of the King's Cup (Copa del Rey) in Spain, several unexpected outcomes were recorded - as many as five teams from the highest "Primera" league in Spain withdrew from the fight for the trophy, losing to clubs from lower divisions.
"Mallorca", "Racing Santander", "Alaves", "Malaga", and San Sebastian's "Real Sociedad" are the victims of the third stage.
The winners of the 2003 cup, the players of "Mallorca", were defeated 4-1 by a third division club "Alcoyano". While the third division club "Burgos" lost by a minimal result to "Racing Santander".
"Malaga" lost to third division "Baza" on penalties after the match ended in a 1-1 draw. The same fate befell "Real Sociedad", who performed worse in the penalty shootout against third division "Zamora".
Only "Alaves" fell to a slightly stronger opponent - they had to admit defeat by a minimal advantage of second league average team "Eibar" in their duel on Wednesday.
"Athletic Bilbao", who have won the King's Cup 23 times, also faced difficulties advancing to the next stage - they narrowly defeated "Real Union". Using the same result, Madrid's "Atletico" beat "Las Palmas" by Matthias Kezman's goal, and Vigo's "Celta" defeated third division "Tenisca" 3-1.
Other "Primera" teams also struggled for victories - "Getafe" won the city derby against "Rayo Vallecano" with a 2-1 result, "Cadiz" defeated "Albacete" in extra time with a 3-1 result, and "Zaragoza" had to rely on a penalty shootout to prove their superiority against third division "Alicante" as the main time ended in a 1-1 draw.
Another third division team advancing to the fourth stage was "Hospitalet", who beat second division "Gimnastic" 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller, despite trailing 2-0 in the match.
Two second division clubs, "Xerez" and "Lleida", also advanced to the next stage.
Nine "Primera" teams, who have participated or are currently participating in European club tournaments this year, will enter the tournament in the quarterfinals, which will take place in January.
