Real Madrid were held to a goalless draw at lowly Real Murcia in the Copa Del Rey tonight as their free-scoring form from the weekend deserted them.

A Madrid team featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Sergio Ramos and Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Di Maria off the bench, failed to find a way past their third-division opponents in the first leg of their fourth-round clash.

Murcia goalkeeper Dani Hernandez made a succession of saves to frustrate Jose Mourinho's men, who hammered Racing Santander 6-1 at the Bernabeu in the Primera Division on Saturday with Ronaldo scoring four times.

It was still, though, a far less embarrassing result than the 4-0 first-leg defeat Madrid suffered to Alcorcon at the same stage of the competition last season. Murcia will visit the Spanish capital for the second leg on 10 November.

Barcelona fared rather better than their bitter rivals as they won 2-0 away to third division Ceuta. Maxwell opened the scoring in the 15th minute and Pedro doubled their lead 10 minutes later to give the Catalans a comfortable advantage heading into the second leg at the Nou Camp.