Madrid and Juventus rejoice in cup victories

Real Madrid CF prevailed 3-1 in the first leg of their last-eight encounter with Club Atlético de Madrid in the Copa del Rey, while Gianluigi Buffon kept a clean sheet on his return to action as Juventus reached the Coppa Italia quarter-finals.

Madrid recovered from the shock of conceding early on to Diego Forlán at the Santiago Bernabéu. Sergio Ramos headed in the equaliser from Ángel Di María's corner on 14 minutes, paving the way for Cristiano Ronaldo (61) − moments after Forlán had struck the post − and Mesut Özil (90) to put José Mourinho's team in control ahead of the second leg on 20 January.

In the night's other tie, Liga strugglers UD Almería will take a one-goal advantage into the return against RC Deportivo La Coruña after Knut Olav Rindarøy's own goal on the cusp of half-time.

Buffon, meanwhile, had not played since Italy's opening match at the FIFA World Cup due to back surgery, but was rarely pressed into service against Calcio Catania as the Bianconeri secured a tie with AS Roma or S.S. Lazio. Miloš Krasić (35) opened the scoring by sweeping in Alessandro Del Piero's cross to the far post, with Simone Pepe (54) doubling the lead after a corner had been flicked on into his path.