Madrigal a low note for Barça

FC Barcelona crashed out of the Spanish Cup against third division Novelda CF tonight, a hat-trick from António Madrigal earning the underdogs a 3-2 first-round victory.

Famous win
Barça took an early lead through Brazilian forward Geovanni but two goals from Madrigal early in the second half changed the game. Juán Román Riquelme scored from the penalty spot to level the scores but Madrigal popped up at the far post with 12 minutes left to seal a famous win.

'We played badly'
"We played badly after scoring the first goal," Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal said. "We made individual errors and failed to create enough chances." Barcelona's defeat followed Villarreal CF's disappointing loss at at Hercules CF last night, a result that cost coach Víctor Muñoz his job.

Early exits
The other Primera División clubs to suffer early exits included Real Racing Club Santander, beaten 3-2 at Real Unión Club de Irún, and Real Sociedad, who lost 3-1 at Real Zaragoza. Cultural Leonesa upset Rayo Vallecano 2-1 and RCD Espanyol went down 1-0 away to Alicante CF.

Portillo scores four
Holders RC Deportivo La Coruña were narrow 2-1 winners at CD Corralejo, while Javier Portillo scored four times as Real Madrid CF, last year's beaten finalists, recovered from conceding an early goal to defeat San Sebastián de los Reyes 8-1.

Penalty drama
Valencia CF needed a penalty shootout to overcome Club Gimnàstic Tarragona after a goalless draw, while Málaga CF also won on spot-kicks after a 1-1 draw with CF Extremadura.