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Spanish La Liga clubs - Madrid's "Atletico" and "Zaragoza" - on Wednesday secured hard-fought victories against lower division teams and advanced to the Copa del Rey quarterfinals.
The 2004 Cup winners "Zaragoza" defeated second division leaders "Xerez" after a tense penalty shootout, which ended 7-6. The main game and extra time ended 2-2.
In other Wednesday matches, Madrid's "Atletico" narrowly beat third division team "Alcoyano". The only goal of the match in the second half was scored by Argentine national team player Maxi Rodriguez, who came on as a substitute.
"Atletico" and "Zaragoza" will join "Getafe", "Athletic Bilbao", "Cadiz", Vigo's "Celta", and third division team "Zamora" in the quarterfinals - all of whom secured their spots by winning in earlier rounds. They will also be joined by nine La Liga clubs who played or are playing in European club competitions this year and therefore had the right to skip the earlier rounds.
Wednesday's match statistics:
"Xerez" 2 - 2 (11 m. penalty shootout 6-7)
12` [0 - 1] Ewerthon
50` [1 - 1] Alex Colorado
62` [1 - 2] Ewerthon
90` [2 - 2] Guille
"Alcoyano" 0 - 1 Madrid
63` [0 - 1] Maxi Rodriguez
