Atletico still hungry for centenary Cup success

Atletico Madrid may have lost their last two games but coach Luis Aragones is still confident his side are playing well enough to make it past Recreativo Huelva on Tuesday and into the semi-finals of the King's Cup.

Atletico's 2-1 defeat at home to Real Sociedad in the league on Saturday followed a 1-0 reverse away to Recreativo in the opening leg of their Cup quarter-final in midweek.

That result leaves the Madrid club plenty of work to do at the Calderon on Tuesday if they are to stay in the hunt for silverware in their centenary season.

Aragones is convinced they can do it -- if they play as well as they did in what was an unfortunate defeat to the league leaders at the weekend.

"If we play like we did against Real Sociedad it will be very difficult for us to fail," Aragones said on the eve of the game.

"It would be a huge blow for us to go out at this stage because we really want to keep going in this competition. We're fully concentrated on this game."

Recreativo grabbed a narrow lead from the first leg thanks to a spectacular free kick from Emilio Viqueira early in the second half.

They followed up that win with a 2-1 success against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday that re-ignited their hopes of avoiding the drop, even if they remain at the foot of the table for now.

Two of the remaining three ties will be decided on Wednesday, when Real Madrid travel to Real Mallorca after last week's 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu and Osasuna host Sevilla following a similar result in the first leg.

On Thursday, holders Deportivo Coruna will attempt to avoid an upset as they defend a 1-0 advantage away to second division leaders Murcia.