BARCELONA: Striker Alvaro Negredo scored a hat-trick, including two second half penalties, as Valencia thrashed Granada 4-0 in the first home leg of their King’s Cup last 16 clash on Wednesday.

Negredo has been given a new lease of life under coach Gary Neville and the win was a confidence boost for Valencia who have yet to pick up a victory in La Liga under the former Manchester United and England player.

He robbed the ball off Diego Mainz and stroked it into the corner past keeper Ivan Kelava after seven minutes.

Santi Mina laid the second on a plate for Rodrigo Moreno and then Mina was fouled by Uche Agbo with Negredo scoring the subsequent penalty after 62 minutes.

Negredo, the former Manchester City player who has had appendicitis and was frozen out by former-coach Nuno Espirito Santo, scored his third from the spot in the 83rd after he himself was fouled by Matheus Doria.

Second half goals from Inaki Williams, Aritz Aduriz and Aymeric Laporte earlier saw Athletic Bilbao come from behind to beat high-flying Villarreal 3-2.

A confident Villarreal had won their previous five matches and went ahead through Leo Baptistao and Samu Garcia but Bilbao came back fighting after the break.

Baptistao slotted home clinically following a good team move after 16 minutes and Samu Castillejo then sent a defense splitting pass for Garcia, who rounded keeper Iago Herrerin and knocked the ball into an empty net.

Williams led the comeback with a 53rd minute strike, after being set up by Benat Etxebarria, and then found Aduriz to score from the center of the penalty area.

Laporte completed the turnaround by converting a Benat free-kick from a tight angle after 80 minutes.

A poor second half for Villarreal also saw the dismissal of Mario Gaspar with three minutes to go.

Holders Barcelona face city rivals Espanyol later while La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid have a derby against Rayo Vallecano. Real Madrid were disqualified from the cup for fielding an ineligible player against Cadiz in the last round.

Grosskreutz joins Stuttgart after four months in the cold

German winger Kevin Grosskreutz joined struggling VfB Stuttgart on Wednesday after four frustrating months at Turkey’s Galatasaray where he did not kick a ball in anger.

Grosskreutz was left out in the cold after his move to Galatasaray from Borussia Dortmund in September was ruled by FIFA to have been completed after the transfer deadline had passed.

Although he could have played from the start of this month, Grosskreutz has instead chosen to return to the Bundesliga to try and help Stuttgart in their battle against relegation.

“The Bundesliga belongs alongside the (English) Premier League as the strongest league in the world,” he told Stuttgart’s official website where the move was confirmed. I’m very happy about the new challenge.”

The versatile 27-year-old, who has made six appearances for Germany, can play on either wing or as a fullback.

Grosskreutz, who was in Germany’s World Cup winning squad in 2014 but did not play, won two Bundesliga titles during five-and-a-half seasons with Dortmund.

Stuttgart are 15th in the Bundesliga at the halfway mark and are only ahead of Werder Bremen, who are in the relegation playoff spot, on goals scored.