Cup return legs go ahead, but no Real Madrid

This week sees the return leg games of the last 32 of the Spanish King's Cup to be played over the next three days.

The return games have been slightly de-caffeinated by the fact Barcelona have already qualified as a result of playing their tie early in order to fly to the World Club Championship in Japan, and by Real Madrid's expulsion from the competition for fielding the ineligible Denis Cheryshev against Cadiz.

The games have also lost interest given that Primera Liga sides such as Athletic Club Bilbao, Valencia, Sevilla, Atletico Madrid, Celta and Deportivo la Coruna, should have no problems qualifying after comfortable wins in their away legs.

However, there are some cases where top-flight sides have work to do in order to make the last 16.

Granada need to overcome a 2-1 first leg defeat to second division Leganes, while Villarreal also took their eye off the ball and will have to fight back from 3-2 down against Huesca.

Malaga also need to come back following a 2-1 defeat away to Mirandes and given the top-flight side's problems scoring goals, that is by no means a certainty, while Eibar have a lot of work to do after their 3-0 thrashing away to Ponferradina.

There are also some all Primera Liga ties with Betis defending a 2-0 lead away to Sporting Gijon, the same score Rayo Vallecano to local rivals Getafe. Las Palmas travel to face Real Sociedad with a 2-1 lead and Espanyol, who have just named Constantin Galca as coach, facing Levante with the scores 1-1 after the first leg.

Meanwhile Real Madrid wait to see the final result of their appeal against expulsion watching the rest of the clubs play on TV. Endi