(Updates after Barcelona match)
By Simon Baskett
MADRID, Jan 31 - Real Zaragoza gained the upper
hand in their King's Cup quarter-final against Barcelona when
defender Carlos Diogo headed in 12 minutes from time to earn his
side a 1-0 win in the first leg at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.
The former Real Madrid player broke the deadlock in an
absorbing and evenly matched encounter when he steered the ball
past keeper Albert Jorquera after a corner.
Zaragoza knocked Barca out of the Cup at the same stage last
season and also in 2004 when they went on to win the competition
with victory over Real Madrid in the final.
Earlier, Getafe and Deportivo Coruna took a giant stride
towards booking their places in on the last four with emphatic
home wins in their first leg matches.
Bernd Schuster's Getafe were in unstoppable form as they
overpowered Osasuna 3-0, while Depor produced a late burst to
come from a goal down and defeat second division leaders
Valladolid 4-1 at the Riazor.
Getafe striker Daniel Guiza, who scored both his side's
goals in their 2-0 league win over Osasuna on Sunday, continued
his rich run of recent form in front of goal when he headed in
after a corner in the 11th minute.
Centre-back Alexis made it 2-0 when he rose above the
Osasuna defence to head in from another corner six minutes
before the break.
Latvia striker Verpakovskis took advantage of a dreadful
error from Osasuna keeper Ricardo to side-foot into the empty
net in the second half after the former Manchester United player
let a ballooning cross slip through his fingers.
Deportivo struck twice in the closing minutes to end
Valladolid's 21-match unbeaten run, although they were reduced
to 10 men in injury time with the sending off of defender
Alberto Lopo.