Spanish Cup holders Barcelona came from behind to beat Espanyol 4-1 at home Wednesday, with a brace from Lionel Messi followed by goals from Gerard Pique and Neymar.
The fifth round first leg started with Felipe Caicedo giving Espanyol a shock lead in the Camp Nou but Barca dominated from then on, especially when Espanyol had Hernan Perez and Pape Diop sent off in the second half.
Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal made their long-awaited debuts for Barca, now that the FIFA transfer ban on the Catalan giants has finally expired.
“I finally felt like a footballer again,” said Turan.
“Having to go six months without playing has been horrible for Alex and I - I wouldn’t wish that kind of punishment on any fellow player.”
Meanwhile, Barca’s Pique warned: “We should not assume that this tie is already over. They are a tough team and they will make it difficult for us in the second leg for sure.”
That second leg will be played at Espanyol’s Cornella stadium January 13.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid battled out a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano, thanks to a late equalizer from supersub Saul after Nacho Martinez had given Rayo an early lead.
Argentine midfielders Matias Kranewitter and Augusto Fernandez made their debuts for Atletico.
Also, Sevilla are well placed to reach the quarter-finals after winning 2-0 Wednesday at crosstown rivals Real Betis in a one-sided first leg.
Michael Krohn-Dehli and Grzegorz Krychowiak scored for Sevilla, who last won the cup in 2010.
Ruben Castro missed a penalty for luckless Betis, who had Alfred N’Diaye sent off two minutes from time for a second yellow card offence.
The latest defeat, this time against the club’s arch-rivals, will increase the pressure on embattled Betis coach Pepe Mel.
“We are not having much luck at the moment,” Mel complained.
“It’s true that we are making a few mistakes, but we are being punished very harshly for them - far too harshly, I would say.”
Earlier Wednesday, Valencia put aside their league woes to trounce feeble Granada 4-0, with a hat-trick from veteran Alvaro Negredo.  
The former Spain striker, who was making his first start for more than three months due to injury and poor form, opened the scoring in the eighth minute, then Rodrigo Moreno made it 2-0 in the 34th.

Negredo on fire
Negredo added Valencia’s third in the 63rd minute from the penalty spot, after Santi Mina had been pulled down by the overworked Granada defence, then completed his hat-trick seven minutes from time from a second penalty, after having been pulled down himself.
“It was good to score goals again,” Negredo said. “That is the main job of a striker, and I was keen to do that again ... This season has been very difficult for me, but today everything went really well at last.”
Elsewhere, Deportivo La Coruna battled out a 1-1 draw at second division side Mirandes, thanks to a late equalizer from veteran defender Alberto Lopo.
Athletic Bilbao produced a stirring comeback to beat Villarreal 3-2.  
Villarreal stormed into a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Leo Baptistao and Samuel Garcia but Bilbao took control after the interval and won with strikes from Inaki Williams, Aritz Aduriz and, finally, Aymeric Laporte. Villarreal had Spain defender Mario Gaspar sent off at the end.
Bilbao managed to reach the final last season, where they lost to Barcelona, the same as in 2012 and 2009.
“This is the kind of match that stays in your mind for a long time,” Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde said.
“We needed a win like this after our recent performances ... I was very pleased with the lads today, they showed a lot of courage and character.”
Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia said: “We are a bit annoyed about this. We should really have finished the tie off with a third goal, when we had them against the ropes. We knew they would come back strongly in the second half, and this is exactly what happened.”

Results
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Williams 53, Aduriz 67, Laporte 80) Villarreal 2 (Baptistao 16, Garcia 37)
Mirandes 1 (Ortiz 25) Deportivo la Coruna 1 (Lopo 75)
Valencia 4 (Negredo 7, 62-pen, 82-pen, Rodrigo 34) Granada 0
Real Betis 0 Sevilla 2 (Krohn-Dehli 13, Krychowiak 49)
Barcelona 4 (Messi 13, 44, Pique 49, Neymar 88) Espanyol 1 (Caicedo 9)
Rayo Vallecano 1 (Nacho 34) Atletico Madrid 1 (Saul Niguez 56)