Barcelona pummel Hercules in Copa del Rey

AFP, MADRID: Turkey international Arda Turan scored a hat-trick as holders Barcelona thrashed third-division side Hercules 7-0 in the second leg of their Copa del Rey last-32 tie.
Turan struck his second hat-trick in as many weeks — following a quickfire treble against Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Champions League a fortnight ago — as Barca eased into the last 16 following an 8-1 aggregate win.
Luis Enrique rested his formidable front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar but the floodgates opened once Lucas Digne broke the deadlock on 37 minutes at the Camp Nou.
Ivan Rakitic added a penalty before half-time with Rafinha and Paco Alcacer the others to get on the scoresheet.
Luciano Vietto and Wissam Ben Yedder also scored three goals each as last year’s beaten finalists Sevilla pummelled fourth tier Formentera 9-1 in Andalusia, completing a 14-2 victory over the two legs.
Rodrigo netted both goals for Valencia in a 2-1 win over Leganes in an all-La Liga affair, with the former progressing 5-2 on aggregate.
Eibar, Deportivo La Coruna and Osasuna also advanced to the next round.
Earlier on Tuesday, Atletico Madrid cruised into the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey by defeating third-division Guijuelo 4-1 for a 10-1 win on aggregate.
Atletico secured the victory in its final match of 2016 with first-half goals by Nicolas Gaitan, Angel Correa, Juanfran Torres and Fernando Torres.
“It was important to win our last game of the year here in our stadium,” Atletico defender Stefan Savic said. “It’s always important to win and hopefully we will keep this momentum going into next year.”
Antonio Pino scored a consolation goal in the 80th minute for Guijuelo, which played a man down from the 33rd minute after defender Raul Luiz was shown a second yellow card at the Vicente Calderon Stadium.
The second half included an incredible miss by Fernando Torres, who was just a few paces from the goal line when he tried to fire home in the 63rd minute.
The city of Guijuelo in northwestern Spain is known for the high quality of its ham, and the team’s players had the picture of a huge ham leg on the front of their jerseys on Tuesday.
Atletico has struggled this season and is only sixth in the Spanish league going into the winter break, nine points behind leader Real Madrid, which has a game in hand.
The round of 16 of the Copa del Rey will begin in the first week of January.
In other matches, Malaga became the first top-flight team to be eliminated after a 4-3 home loss to second-division club Cordoba, going out 6-3 on aggregate.
Real Sociedad drew 1-1 with second-division team Valladolid to advance 4-2 on aggregate, while Villarreal beat third-division Toledo 4-1 over two legs after a 1-1 draw at home, with Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato scoring Villarreal’s goal.
Las Palmas beat second-tier Huesca 2-1, advancing with a 4-3 win on aggregate.

Barcelona pummel Hercules in Copa del Rey

AFP, MADRID: Turkey international Arda Turan scored a hat-trick as holders Barcelona thrashed third-division side Hercules 7-0 in the second leg of their Copa del Rey last-32 tie. Turan struck his second hat-trick in as many weeks following a quickfire treble against Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Champions League a fortnight ago as Barca eased into the last 16 following an 8-1 aggregate win. Luis Enrique rested his formidable front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar but the floodgates opened once Lucas Digne broke the deadlock on 37 minutes at the Camp Nou. Ivan Rakitic added a penalty before half-time with Rafinha and Paco Alcacer the others to get on the scoresheet. Luciano Vietto and Wissam Ben Yedder also scored three goals each as last years beaten finalists Sevilla pummelled fourth tier Formentera 9-1 in Andalusia, completing a 14-2 victory over the two legs. Rodrigo netted both goals for Valencia in a 2-1 win over Leganes in an all-La Liga affair, with the former progressing 5-2 on aggregate. Eibar, Deportivo La Coruna and Osasuna also advanced to the next round. Earlier on Tuesday, Atletico Madrid cruised into the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey by defeating third-division Guijuelo 4-1 for a 10-1 win on aggregate. Atletico secured the victory in its final match of 2016 with first-half goals by Nicolas Gaitan, Angel Correa, Juanfran Torres and Fernando Torres. It was important to win our last game of the year here in our stadium, Atletico defender Stefan Savic said. Its always important to win and hopefully we will keep this momentum going into next year. Antonio Pino scored a consolation goal in the 80th minute for Guijuelo, which played a man down from the 33rd minute after defender Raul Luiz was shown a second yellow card at the Vicente Calderon Stadium. The second half included an incredible miss by Fernando Torres, who was just a few paces from the goal line when he tried to fire home in the 63rd minute. The city of Guijuelo in northwestern Spain is known for the high quality of its ham, and the teams players had the picture of a huge ham leg on the front of their jerseys on Tuesday. Atletico has struggled this season and is only sixth in the Spanish league going into the winter break, nine points behind leader Real Madrid, which has a game in hand. The round of 16 of the Copa del Rey will begin in the first week of January. In other matches, Malaga became the first top-flight team to be eliminated after a 4-3 home loss to second-division club Cordoba, going out 6-3 on aggregate. Real Sociedad drew 1-1 with second-division team Valladolid to advance 4-2 on aggregate, while Villarreal beat third-division Toledo 4-1 over two legs after a 1-1 draw at home, with Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato scoring Villarreals goal. Las Palmas beat second-tier Huesca 2-1, advancing with a 4-3 win on aggregate.