- - Villarreal eliminated by 2nd-division club Racing in Copa del Rey, Atletico beats Baleares

TALES AZZONIDecember 18, 2025 at 2:41 AM

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Real Madrid's Franco Mastantuono, center, duels for the balls with Talavera's Iaiah Jeronimo during the Copa del Rey soccer match between Talavera and Real Madrid, in Talavera de la Reina, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/M. Berengui) ()

MADRID (AP) — Villarreal was eliminated by second-division club Racing Santander in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, while Atletico Madrid earned a hard-fought win over fourth-tier team Atletico Baleares.

Villarreal, sitting third in the Spanish league and enjoying one of its best campaigns in years, lost 2-1 to Racing after conceding twice in the first half. Ayoze Pérez scored in the 86th but Villarreal couldn't complete the comeback. Juan Carlos Arana netted both goals for the hosts.

It was the second straight defeat for Villarreal in all competitions — it was coming off a 3-2 home loss to Copenhagen in the league phase of the Champions League. In the Spanish league, Villarreal has won six matches in a row.

Atletico survives

Antoine Griezmann scored a goal in each half as Atletico held on for a 3-2 win over Atletico Baleares.

Atletico led 2-0 and 3-1, but the hosts kept threatening to the end. Baleares missed an 80th-minute penalty before pulling closer in the 90th. Giacomo Raspadori also scored for Atletico.

It was the third win in a row for Diego Simeone's team in all competitions after it had lost two consecutive in the Spanish league, where it sits in fourth place behind Villarreal.

Barcelona needed late goals by Andreas Christensen and Marcus Rashford to defeat third-division club Guadalajara 2-0 on Tuesday. The other first-division clubs that advanced were Real Sociedad and Valencia, but Mallorca lost to second-division team Deportivo La Coruna.

Real Madrid later plays at third-division club Talavera.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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