MADRID — Antoine Griezmann scored twice off the bench as Atletico Madrid sealed a place in the King’s Cup quarterfinals with a 3-0 win at home to Rayo Vallecano Thursday while Valencia also advanced with victory by the same scoreline at Granada.
Atletico and Valencia join holder and record winner Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla, Celta Vigo, Las Palmas and second-division Mirandes, the only non-La Liga side left in the competition.
Rayo held its more illustrious city neighbor to a 1-1 draw in last week’s last 16, first leg at its Vallecas Stadium and was sniffing a possible upset ahead of the return across town at Atletico’s Calderon arena.
Angel Correa’s powerful strike from the edge of the penalty area, which flew in off the underside of the crossbar, put the 2013 winner ahead five minutes before halftime.
Griezmann hooked in a second for the home side in the 80th minute and the in-form France forward made it 3-0 in added time with a breakaway goal for a 4-1 aggregate victory.
Rayo, which is second from bottom in La Liga at the halfway stage, barely troubled Miguel Angel Moya in the Atletico goal and must now turn their attention to avoiding relegation.
Valencia coach Gary Neville rested several regulars for the visit to Granada after a thumping 4-0 victory in the first leg at the Mestalla.
Granada, also struggling in La Liga, had the better of the early exchanges and Ruben Rochina’s first-time shot came back off the inside of a post in the 21st minute.
However, midfielder Wilfried Zahibo made the most of an error by goalkeeper Ivan Kelava and headed in at a corner in the 42nd minute to snuff out any hopes of an unlikely Granada comeback.
Paco Alcacer sped clear to score in the 63rd minute moments after coming on to replace Alvaro Negredo and Pablo Piatti completed the scoring and a 7-0 aggregate success with a penalty six minutes from time.
The quarter-finals will be played over two legs later this month with the semi-finals at the start of February and the final on May 21.
Barcelona faces Bilbao
Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao will meet in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey in a rematch of last year’s final.
The teams were drawn to face each other Friday.
Barcelona defeated Athletic 3-1 in last year’s final. The teams also met in the Spanish Super Cup final a few weeks later, when Bilbao came out on top to win its first major title in more than 30 years.
The first leg of this season’s encounter will be in Bilbao, with the return match at the Camp Nou.
Spanish league leader Atletico Madrid will face fifth-place Celta Vigo, while Valencia will play recently promoted Las Palmas.
Sevilla will be up against Mirandes, the only second-division team in the draw.
The home-and-away legs start next week. — Agencies
