Barcelona held by Hercules, Real Madrid romp into last 16

Barca's Carles Alena struck a sublime effort in the 58th minute to cancel out David Mainz's close-range opener six minutes earlier as the cup holders came from behind but had to accept a draw in a match they dominated.





The Spanish champions' struggles in La Liga followed them to Segunda B side Hercules as a much-changed side made it three domestic games without a win after a disjointed performance.

Real Madrid, playing a leg earlier than everyone else ahead of their Club World Cup campaign, held a 7-1 lead after the first game and made short shrift of their opponents at the Bernabeu, opening the scoring after 23 seconds through Dominican forward Mariano.

James Rodriguez, one of few familiar names in the starting line-up as Zinedine Zidane made eight changes with an eye on Saturday's Clasico against Barca, added a second with a header in the 23rd minute before Mariano, on his debut, doubled his tally.

The visitors pulled one back through Yerey Gonzalez's magnificent long-range effort just before the break, but Real dominated the second half, Zidane's son Enzo marking his debut with a goal and Mariano rounding off his hat-trick with a header.

Leonesa's Cesar Morgado scored an own goal in the last minute to round off a miserable afternoon as Real, who were disqualified from last year's tournament after fielding an ineligible player, extended their unbeaten run to 32 matches.

Real, whose last loss came against Wolfsburg in the Champions League in April, are closing in on the club record of 34 games without defeat, set by Leo Beenhakker's side in the 1988-89 season.

Elsewhere, Joaquin Correa scored a hat-trick as Sevilla thumped fourth-tier SD Formentera 5-1 while Atletico Madrid stormed to a 6-0 victory over Segunda B outfit Guijuelo.





(Reporting by Ed Dove, editing by Ed Osmond)


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world