Mallorca and Rayo are already waiting in the quarterfinals

Mallorca has become the first team to qualify for the Copa del Rey quarter-finals after beating Espanyol 2-1 in a clash of great rivalry held in the Balearic fiefdom. The vermilion team takes away with this sip butler the bad taste of the last league days, with consecutive defeats against Granada, Barcelona and Levante Mallorca that even put in discussion the future of coach Luis García Plaza

The clash had little history until it was opened by Take Kubo, after half an hour of play. The Japanese executed a colossal free kick with his left foot to sign his second goal of the season and overcome Diego López’s stretch, which came to touch the ball. That goal unleashed hostilities between two teams that in recent times are bitter rivals.

Their duels are high tension since Vicente Moreno changed the Son Moix bench for the RCDE Stadium. He did it in August 2020 to lead the parakeet team in Second after descending with Mallorca. And García Plaza arrived on the Balearic island. Last year both teams competed for the leadership in the silver category and both were promoted.

Mallorca seemed to clinch the victory after another strategic action, executed in a corner kick by Salva Sevilla and culminated in a header by Abdón Prats. There was half an hour to go and Espanyol seemed dead. But it was resurrected with the controversial goal by Javi Puado, awarded at the request of the VAR after almost five minutes of deliberations and cross talks.

There was uncertainty and nerves on the surface until the end, with Pedrosa expelled. Success for the Balearic Islands, champions in 2003 and two-time finalists in the KO tournament, and disappointment for the Catalans when they fell in a tournament that they won four times and in which they reached the final five more times.

Sergi Guardiola and Luca Zidane conquer Montilivi

Twenty years after losing in the quarterfinals against Real Madrid, Rayo also celebrated reaching that round of the Copa del Rey after coming back against a good Girona in Montilivi (1-2). The Colombian Bernardo Espinosa put the Catalan team ahead, but Sergi Guardiola decided with a brace in just four minutes between the end of the first half and the start of the second.

The red-and-red team, which precisely beat Girona in the final due to last year’s promotion, once again prevailed over a team that had just won five games in a row. Broken illusions in Míchel’s team, a rayista at heart who played as a player for 17 years in the club of the populous Madrid neighborhood. Rayo suffered until the end, as Luca Zidane saved a penalty from Stuani and in added time a goal against Moreno was annulled for a millimetric offside. The best team in its stadium in Europe, also walks steadily in the KO tournament.

The Catalans came out strong, forcing Luca Zidane to show off three times before taking the lead, coming off a corner kick headed by Espinosa. Rayo played more, but it was difficult for him to generate danger against Juan Carlos, formerly of the Vallecano club. Only Isi warned with a spectacular free-kick to the crossbar, but equalized just before half-time thanks to a magnificent volley by Sergi Guardiola from the edge of the area. The striker himself, very clever, took advantage of an error between Kebe and the goalkeeper as soon as the fight resumed to come back from the rebound. Girona did not give up until the end and died with greatness.