Real Madrid crush Zaragoza to cruise into Copa del Rey quarterfinals

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:17 am

Real Madrid cruised through to the Copa del Rey quarterfinals with a 4-0 victory away at second-tier Real Zaragoza on Wednesday.

First-half goals from Raphael Varane and Lucas Vazquez had put the La Liga leaders in control before Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema added gloss to the scoreline after the interval.

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Despite the tie seemingly appearing simple on paper, Madrid knew they had to be wary with the Copa del Rey having proved far from simple thus far as Barcelona struggled past lowly Ibiza and Atletico Madrid were knocked out by Cultral Leonesa, who then took Valencia to penalties before being eliminated.

Real Madrid players celebrate during victory over Real Zaragoza.
Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

However, Madrid took the lead against Zaragoza after just six minutes through Varane's close-range finish, before Vazquez added a second on 32 minutes, with Toni Kroos having assisted both goals.

James Rodriguez then set up Vinicius, who added a third on 72 minutes, before coming off a minute later. Benzema added a fourth from close range 10 minutes from time.