MADRID — Barcelona's David Villa proved he still has a sharp eye for goal by scoring twice as the holder cruised into the King's Cup quarterfinals by beating second division Cordoba 5-0 at the Nou Camp Thursday. The Spain striker, his country's leading all-time scorer, has had to be content with a secondary role this season, but has continued to score when called upon and took his tally to five in four Cup games. The 31-year-old netted twice in five first-half minutes to ease Barca's passage into the last eight, while a double from Alexis Sanchez after the break to add to the early opener from Thiago Alcantara gave the host a 7-0 aggregate victory. “Villa has played a great game. He has showed us what we all already knew, that he should be an important player for us,” Barca assistant coach Jordi Roura told a news conference as he stood in for the absent Tito Vilanova. “He will return to be more important for us, without any doubt.” Barca set up a meeting with Champions League last-16 side Malaga in the next round, and could meet Real Madrid in the semifinals, if Jose Mourinho's side overcome Valencia. On the other side of the draw, Atletico Madrid also made the quarters with a drab 0-0 draw at neighbors Getafe after a 3-0 first-leg win. Its task was made easier by a red card for Getafe defender Rafa Lopez after 33 minutes and it will next meet Real Betis after the Andalusians scraped through 2-1 on aggregate against second division Las Palmas thanks to a late winner. Betis had to work hard for its victory, having drawn 1-1 in the Canary Islands, and had to wait until five minutes from time before Ruben Castro pounced on an error to fire the only goal of the second leg. Las Palmas' strikers Macauley Christanus and Thievy will look back on some glaring misses. Real Zaragoza takes on 2010 winner Sevilla in the remaining quarterfinal. The first legs are to be played next week. Barca had left players such as Gerard Pique, Xavi and Andres Iniesta out of the squad and newly-crowned World Player of the Year Lionel Messi stayed on the bench, but they still dominated against Cordoba. Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos was, meanwhile, handed a five-match ban by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) Thursday, after being sent off and insulting the referee in their King's Cup victory over Celta Vigo. — Agencies
