Champion Real Madrid beat Malaga 1-0 in the Spanish Cup Tuesday as Karim Benzema took it through to a near certain, mouthwatering quarterfinal clash with Barcelona. Real Madrid already had a one-goal advantage after its 3-2 win in the Bernabeu and French international Benzema sealed its return leg victory with a well-taken 71st minute shot that was badly fumbled by keeper Willy Caballero. Barring an unthinkable collapse, Barcelona and its three-time Ballon d'Or-winning Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi will move in to the quarterfinals Thursday when it plays a return leg in Osasuna with a 4-0 advantage in hand. That would set up Madrid-Barcelona matches on Jan. 18 and 25. Real will be joined in the quarterfinals by surprise qualifiers Real Mallorca and third tier Mirandes. Mallorca scored four times in seven minutes during an astonishing comeback to knock out Real Sociedad 6-3 on aggregate earlier in the evening. The Basques led 2-0 from the first leg in San Sebastian last week and took the lead in Mallorca after 16 minutes, while disgruntled home fans whistled their own side. Mirandes claimed the scalp of a second La Liga side when it drew 1-1 at Racing Santander to progress 3-1 on aggregate. Lazio scrapes into quarters Lazio survived a scare to scrape through to the Italian Cup quarterfinals Tuesday by winning 3-2 from Hernanes' stoppage-time winner after second-division club Verona had come back from two goals down. Brazilian defender Andre Dias broke the deadlock a minute before halftime and Tommaso Rocchi scored in the 57th minute to give Lazio a seemingly unassailable lead. However, Verona stunned the Stadio Olimpico crowd by leveling through Emanuele Berrettoni and Marco D'Alessandro. The game was heading for extra time before Hernanes pounced to ensure Lazio will play either AC Milan or Novara, who meet next week.
