Barca, Atletico, Sevilla ease into Copa del Rey last 16
MADRID: Holders Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla eased into the last 16 of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, but Basque duo Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad were eliminated in stunning fashion by third-tier opposition in Formentera and Lleida respectively.
Already leading 3-0 from the first leg, Barca boss Ernesto Valverde made 10 changes from Sunday's top-of-the-table clash at Valencia with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez among those to drop out for a 5-0 rout of Real Murcia.
Paco Alcacer kept up his fine strike rate this season with his fourth goal of the campaign from just over 400 minutes on the field when he headed home Aleix Vidal's pass on 16 minutes.
Barca had to wait until 10 minutes into the second half to double their advantage when captain for the night Gerard Pique tapped into an empty net from another Vidal cross.
Vidal then completed a fine team move himself when he headed home Nelson Semedo's cross.
And fine finishes from Denis Suarez and Jose Manuel Arnaiz rounded off the scoring.
Fernando Torres scored his first two goals of the season as Atletico saw off Elche's first-leg resistance to progress 4-1 on aggregate with a 3-0 win at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Jose Maria Gimenez gave a strong Atletico side the lead with a thunderous downward header on the half-hour mark.
Two minutes later Torres swept home from a narrow angle for his first goal at Atletico's new home and then doubled his account by firing in off the bar 22 minutes from time.
Wissam Ben Yedder scored twice in the opening six minutes as Sevilla cruised past Cartagena 4-0 to seal a 7-0 aggregate win in the absence of coach Eduardo Berizzo.
Berizzo underwent surgery on a cancerous tumour of the prostate on Tuesday with his assistant Ernesto Marcucci taking charge whilst he recovers.
Paulo Henrique Ganso and Joaquin Correa were also on target for the five-time winners.
The stories of the night came in the Basque country where both Formentera and Lleida struck late to secure huge upsets.
Formentera's 12,000 population would fit four times over into Athletic's San Mames stadium, but the visitors from a tiny island off Ibiza stunned Bilbao thanks to a 97th-minute winner from Alvaro Muniz to advance 2-1 on aggregate. - AFP MILAN: Maurizio Sarri's Napoli face a major test of their Serie A title ambitions when they take on champions Juventus Friday night in their San Paolo Stadium.
Napoli are riding high this season -unbeaten in 14 league games -- to sit top of the Italian league table with 38 points, four ahead of third-placed Juventus.
Juventus' Serie A dominance, with six consecutive Scudetto trophies, has shown signs of weakness this season.
Two losses -- Lazio ending the Turin giants's two-year unbeaten home record last month, before slumping 3-2 at Sampdoria two weeks ago - have given their rivals hope of a change.
But Massimiliano Allegri's side still have the most deadly attacking line this season, leading the way with 40 goals, five more than Napoli and 12 ahead of second-placed Inter Milan.
Argentine ace Gonzalo Higuain -- the scorer of eight of those goals -- however remains in doubt after undergoing surgery during the week on a broken finger.
"What is certain is that 'Pipita' (Higuain) is professional and he's focused, so let's see if he can play," said German midfielder Sami Khedira.
"That would be great of course, but if he can't then we have a number of other forwards who can come into the team and they're super players too."
Veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini warned that the problem lies in Juventus' defence which has leaked 14 goals compared to just nine conceded by Napoli.
"Ninety percent of the time, the team that has the best defence wins the league, it is statistics and we want to return to having the most solid defence," said Italian Chiellini.
"In the last few months we have paid by suffering some highs and lows and conceding goals. We need to find the balance that's been missing at the start of the season.
"We are all aware of the importance of Friday's match," continued Chiellini.