Bayern might too much for Stuttgart again

FC Bayern München put VfB Stuttgart to the sword for the second time in four days, a 6-3 win taking them through to the German Cup quarter-finals.

Bruno Labbadia suffered his first league game at the Stuttgart helm on Sunday as his side succumb 5-3 at home to the German champions – he could not have imagined their next encounter would be even more entertaining. There were early signs, though, as Andreas Ottl's 30-metre strike and Mario Gómez's close-range finish put Bayern 2-0 up inside eight minutes.

The hosts were level at the break thanks to a Pavel Pogrebnyak double, only for Miroslav Klose (52) to make it 3-2. Stuttgart then had Khalid Boulahrouz sent off and Christian Gentner missed a penalty, yet levelled again via Matthieu Delpierre's header. Thomas Müller, Klose and Franck Ribéry's header put the tie to bed in the final nine minutes; VfB ending with nine men after Delpierre's dismissal.

There were upsets elsewhere in Germany, with Nils Petersen scoring twice in FC Energie Cottbus's 3-1 triumph at stuttering VfL Wolfsburg. Bundesliga strugglers 1. FC Köln also bowed out at home to second-tier opponents as MSV Duisburg won 2-1, while Marco Höger scored and missed from the spot before Alemannia Aachen beat ten-man Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties.

Spain
There were no such shocks in the Copa del Rey round of 16 first legs, with Madrid's 8-0 demolition of Levante UD catching the eye. Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo struck hat-tricks, with Mesut Özil and Pedro León also on target.

The goals flowed throughout Spain, with Sevilla coming from 3-2 down to overcome Málaga CF 5-3, Ndri Romaric scoring twice. José Ulloa hit a hat-trick as UD Almería beat RCD Mallorca, who missed a penalty, 4-3. Getafe CF were 2-1 victors at Real Betis Balompié and Simão's spot kick earned Club Atlético de Madrid a narrow advantage against RCD Espanyol. The second legs take place in the first week of January.