BARCELONA (AP) ― Real Madrid rebounded from last weekend’s league loss to Barcelona by defeating third-tier Ponferradina 2-0 Tuesday night in the Copa del Rey on goals by Jose Callejon and Cristiano Ronaldo.
On a rainy night before 8,500 fans at Ponferradina, Callejon scored in the 29th minute when he redirected Sami Khedira’s bouncing cross into the net. Ronaldo, criticized for his poor play in Saturday’s 3-1 loss, doubled the lead in the 74th when he ran onto Gonzalo Higuain’s pass and shot under the goalkeeper.
Madrid played a man short after defender Raul Albiol received his second yellow card in the 69th minute. The second leg of the fourth-round matches are next week.
In games matching first division teams against third division clubs, Valencia tied 0-0 at Cadiz, Villarreal was held to a 1-1 draw by Mirandes and Zaragona was held to a 1-1 tie by Alcorcon.
Real Sociedad beat visiting Granada 4-1, and Malaga won 1-0 at Getafe on a late goal by 18-year-old Juanmi Jimenez.
In other matches between first division clubs, Racing Santander defeated visiting Rayo Vallecano 3-2, and Sporting Gijon won 1-0 at Mallorca.
Italy
Inter Milan moved into the top half of the Serie A standings, winning 1-0 at Genoa as Yuto Nagatomo scored on a header in the 67th minute.
Inter (6-6-2) has won four of its last five games and moved into seventh place with 20 points, 10 behind Juventus (8-0-6) and Udinese (9-2-3). Genoa (5-6-3) is eighth with 18 points.
Diego Forlan returned to action for Inter, two months after injuring a leg during a World Cup qualifier against Paraguay.
There were over four minutes of stoppage time caused when the game stopped after Genoa substitute Alberto Marchiori fainted on the bench. He was taken off on a stretcher, but his condition was not thought to be serious.
Germany
Lukas Podolski scored his 14th goal of the season on a 20-yard shot in the 85th minute, giving Cologne a 1-1 draw against visiting Mainz in a Bundesliga game originally postponed because of a referee’s suicide attempt.
Sami Allagui put Mainz in front with header in the 70th, beating three defenders to Julian Baumgartlinger’s cross.
The sides were due to meet on Nov. 19, but the game was called off at short notice when Babak Rafati was found bleeding in a hotel bathtub hours before kickoff.
