David Villa showed exactly what he is capable of with a nice brace against Cordoba, leading Barcelona to a 5-0 win in the second leg of the Copa Del Rey last-16 match.
Villa scored the second and third goals of the game, after Thiago Alcantara had opened the scoring, with Alexis Sanchez adding the final touches as Barcelona, without Tito Vilanova in the dugout, ran out 7-0 winners on aggregate.
Thiago made it 1-0 in the 17th minute, coolly slotting home off a nice pass from Alex Song.
Villa, who has been linked with a move to Arsenal in January, grabbed his first goal four minutes later, leaving a couple of defenders for dead, before finishing perfectly past the Cordoba goalkeeper.
It was 3-0 in the 26th minute, with Villa latching onto a pass from Sergi Roberto, before striking low off the post and into the net.
Sanchez added two second half goals in the 55th and 85th minutes to send Barcelona, who were missing some of their star players from the starting lineup, including Lionel Messi, to a meeting with Malaga in the quarters.
"Goals give me confidence," Sanchez told the club's official website after the match. "I'm very pleased that we won and that we're in the quarterfinals."
Thago added: "This ambition and seriousness with which we started the game defines us. That's why we are where we are.
"I'm more comfortable because my teammates make it easy, when we're all united it works out well."
"We're all pleased for Alexis because we know that scoring is important to him."
Cristiano Ronaldo had earlier netted a spectacular hat-trick to ensure Real Madrid also made the quarterfinals, with a 5-2 aggregate victory, following a 4-0 romp in the second leg against Celta Vigo.
In a game that saw another player sent off for Real Madrid, Ronaldo scored the opening three goals with Sami Khedira adding the fourth in the 4-0 rout of Celta.
Real had to play the final 20 minutes with ten men, after Sergio Ramos was sent off for a second bookable offense, with his protests at the referee earning him a five-match ban.
However, the game was all about Ronaldo as the Portuguese superstar, after losing out to Messi in the Ballon d'Or, scored three wonderful goals to ensure a place in the last-eight for his side, where they will meet Valencia.
"The team was perfect," Ronaldo told the club's official website. "We started very well, with a goal after two minutes, and then we had control for the whole match. We played well and the aim was to win and get through to the next round.
"In the second half we started quite comfortably, we were already winning 2-0, but we knew that if they scored it would be all to play for again. After the sending-off we reacted well but, in my opinion, what Ramos did was not a sending-off, it was unintentional."
Results (all aggregate scores): Valencia 4-1 Osasuna; Barcelona 7-0 Cordoba; Real Madrid 5-2 Celta Vigo; Atletico Madrid 3-0 Getafe; Sevilla 6-2 Mallorca; Betis 2-1 Las Palmas; Malaga 5-2 Eibar; Zaragoza 3-0 Levante.
