BARCELONA: Real Madrid and Barcelona started their Copa del Rey campaigns with surprisingly hard-fought wins over lower-tier teams on Wednesday, while third-division Atletico Baleares eliminated a second top-flight side by beating Celta Vigo 2-1.

Real needed two late goals to beat Alcoyano 3-1, who a year before had eliminated the powerhouse in the same round of 32. Bitter rivals Barca recovered from a goal down to defeat Linares Deportivo 2-1.

Defender Eder Militao put Real ahead in front of 4,800 fans at El Collao Stadium. But the hosts created scoring chances throughout and pulled level in the 66th minute when Dani Vega cut back to avoid both Casemiro and Militao before curling home.

Marco Asensio put Real back in charge in the 76th when his shot hit a defender, leaving Alcoyano goalkeeper Jose Figueras no chance to save. An own goal by Figueras ensured the win two minutes later.

“Games like this are the most difficult and last year we learnt the hard way how things can get messy in these situations,” Real’s Marcelo told reporters. “We did a very serious job. We fought hard, wasn’t a great game by our side but we fought.”

With veteran Dani Alves returning to the club, Barca were a goal down inside 19 minutes thanks to a header from Hugo Diaz.

But the defending champions hit back in the second half to stay alive with Ousmane Dembele and Ferran Jutgla securing the victory.

Dembele went on at halftime and cancelled out Diaz’s goal for Linares with a strike from outside the area to level in the 63rd.

Jutgla netted the winner six minutes later to save Barca from an embarrassing exit from the cup in southern Spain.

“I am very happy to help the team, to do what the coach asks me to do,” Jutgla told reporters. “They came out very strong, perhaps a little stronger than us.”

Baleares, who had already stunned Getafe 5-0 in the previous round, got two goals from Manuel Martinez to upset Celta.

Martinez gave the club from the Mediterranean island of Mallorca the lead in the 17th with a header from a quickly taken corner kick.

Substitute Brais Mendez pulled Celta level in the 67th, only for Martinez to head in a cross for the 76th-minute winner.

Denis Cheryshev scored in stoppage time to give Valencia a 2-1 win at second-division side Cartagena.

Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice to give Real Sociedad a 3-2 win at Leganes, while Real Betis beat Valladolid 3-0 and Mallorca rallied to beat Eibar 2-1.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2022