Madrid: Atletico Madrid and Villarreal's woeful seasons got worse on Wednesday as the top-flight clubs were eliminated from the Copa del Rey by third-tier teams on home soil, leading Villarreal to fire coach Juan Carlos Garrido.
Albacete beat Atletico 1-0 to reach the last-16 with a 3-1 aggregate victory, while Pablo Infante scored a pair of second-half goals for Mirandes to win 2-0 at Villarreal and advance 3-1 overall.
Zaragoza coach Javier Aguirre will also feel added pressure after exiting 3-1 overall following a 2-0 loss to Alcorcon, the same club which eliminated Real Madrid at this stage two years ago.
Villarreal wasted no time in dismissing Garrido after the latest setback to their awful season, which sees them sitting 17th in the league — out of the relegation zone on goal difference - and having exited the Champions League after losing all six group stage games.
Atletico coach Gregorio Manzano could be next to leave, as he was already expected to be fired regardless of the result.
"Until I'm informed of the opposite, I'll continue to answer questions professionally, in my role," Manzano said.
Former Atletico and Argentina midfielder Diego Simeone has been tipped as the replacement for Manzano after quitting as coach of Argentine club Racing Club earlier this week.
Atletico, who are 10th in the league and five points above the relegation zone, needed just 20 seconds to fall behind at the Vicente Calderon stadium after allowing Victor Curto to beat goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo with a hard shot to the near post.
Diego Godin and Adrian Lopez provided Atletico with first-half scoring chances after that, but Albacete held their own throughout and were dangerous on the counter as they reached the last-16 with the first major upset in the domestic cup competition.
Fans jeered Manzano, the players and the club's directors after losing to a team that counts Spain and Barcelona star Andres Iniesta as a major shareholder.
"This was a total disaster," said Manzano, whose team was also eliminated from the competition by Albacete during the 1994-95 season.
At La Romareda stadium, Oriol Riera put Alcorcon ahead in the series with his 86th-minute strike before Joaquin Alvarez sealed the second-division club's passage to the last-16 three minutes later when goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez was slow to react to his long-range shot.
"There are no words to describe what the mood of the locker room is right now," said Aguirre, whose team is last in the league standings.
Real Betis were the fourth top-flight club eliminated from the domestic cup competition, going out on away goals following a 2-1 win over Cordoba that left the series tied 2-2.
Other teams to advance on Wednesday included 23-times cup winners Athletic Bilbao, Racing Santander, Osasuna, Levante, Malaga and Real Sociedad. Defending champions Real Madrid, Espanyol, Sevilla and Mallorca all won their fourth-round matches on Tuesday to advance.
Barcelona hold a 1-0 lead over third-tier Hospitalet ahead of their match on Thursday, when Valencia welcome Cadiz after the pair played to a scoreless draw in the first leg.
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