MADRID — Atletico Madrid sealed its place in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey with a ninth consecutive win in all competitions thanks to Thomas Partey’s solitary goal against Catalan minnows Reus Thursday.
Ghanaian midfielder Thomas struck his first goal for the club eight minutes after half-time to complete a 3-1 aggregate win for an Atletico side without the rested Diego Godin and Antoine Griezmann.
Atletico is second favorite behind Barcelona to lift the Cup for an 11th time after Real Madrid’s embarrassing expulsion for fielding an ineligible player.
And Diego Simeone’s men were once again effective without shining on a bad night in front of goal for Fernando Torres.
The former Chelsea and Liverpool striker has been searching for his 100th Atletico goal since September and the long wait continued as he passed up three great chances in the first-half.
La Liga high-flyers Celta Vigo also eased into the last 16 as Daniel Wass’s free-kick was enough to earn a 1-0 win over Almeria to seal the tie 4-1 on aggregate.
Barcelona to face Espanyol
Defending champion Barcelona will face city rival Espanyol in the round of 16.
The Catalan clubs were drawn to face each other Friday, as were Seville teams Real Betis and Sevilla.
Atletico Madrid will face Rayo Vallecano, while Athletic Bilbao, last year’s runner-up, will play against Villarreal. Valencia will face Granada.
Only two lower-division teams made it to the round of 16. Second-division club Mirandes will play Deportivo La Coruna, while Cadiz, the only third-tier team in the draw, will face Celta Vigo. Eibar will meet Las Palmas.
The games will be played on Jan. 6 and Jan. 13.
AC Milan in Cup quarters
AC Milan is through to the Italian Cup quarterfinals after winning 2-0 at 10-man Sampdoria, Rossoneri coach Sinisa Mihajlovic’s former team.
M’Baye Niang broke the deadlock five minutes after the break, beating the offside trap to run onto Carlos Bacca’s through-ball and fire into the bottom left corner.
Bacca sealed the result in stoppage time, thanks to an assist from Keisuke Honda, after Samp had missed clearcut chances to level.
Sampdoria’s hopes of a comeback started to fade when defender Ervin Zukanovic was dismissed in the 64th minute for picking up two yellow cards in a matter of seconds — having said something to the referee, moments after being booked for a foul.
Milan will fancy its chances of reaching the final. If it beats relegation-threatened Carpi, it will face the winner of the match between the two lower-division sides left in the competition — Alessandria and Spezia.
Earlier, Lazio came from behind to beat 10-man Udinese 2-1 to book a quarterfinal tie against Juventus — a rematch of last season’s final. — Agencies
