Hercules rout Atletico Madrid 4-1 in Spain

ALICANTE ( SPAIN): Hercules routed Atletico Madrid 4-1 with four first-half goals to close the 18th round of the Spanish league on Monday.

Jorge "Tote" Lopez, Nelson Valdez, Olivier Thombert and David Trezeguet all scored before halftime as a toothless Atletico seemingly had its sights set on Thursday's Copa del Rey match against Real Madrid.

Jose Antonio Reyes grabbed one back for Atletico with one minute to play.

Hercules' fourth straight victory at Rico Perez stadium lifted the promoted side into 11th place, five points behind sixth-place Atletico, which is seven points off the Champions League positions.

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