Alcoyano Dump Real Madrid out of Copa del Rey

Alcoyano Dump Real Madrid out of Copa del Rey
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21 January 2021
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Real Madrid are out of the 2020/21 Copa del Rey after a shocking 2-1 extra time defeat at the hands of Segunda B Alcoyano in the Round of 32 on Wednesday at El Collao Stadium.

 

A week after losing to Athletic Club in the Supercopa de Espana semifinals, Zinedine Zidane now finds himself an even more difficult situation as coach.

 

Eder Militao scored to give Madrid a lead right before half-time, but they were never able to put away the pesky hosts, who equalised in the final minutes through Solbes. A sending off for Alcoyano with ten minutes left in extra time should have made things easier, but instead Madrid got caught on the break, with Juanan scoring a goal that will forever live in Alcoyano lore.

 

Absences in defense forced Zidane to make a slew of changes to his back-line, with the little-used Alvaro Odriozola getting the nod at right-back, Militao and debutant Victor Chust at center-back and veteran Marcelo at left-back. Isco was also an inclusion in midfield, while the attack was led by Lucas Vazquez, Mariano and Vinicius. The night also served as a debut for goalkeeper Andriy Lunin.

 

Like in the first 45 minutes, Madrid were hardly threatening in the final third despite an overwhelming advantage in possession. Finally, a rare counter-attack for Los Blancos almost yielded a second score, only for Jose Juan to come all the way out of his own penalty area to block a Vinicius shot.

 

It was the let-off that Alcoyano needed and minutes later they stunned Los Blancos to pull level 1-1 with ten minutes on the watch. Solbes was responsible for the equalizing goal.

 

Zidane looked on in dismay with the sound of the final whistle and made his second change to start extra time, with Marco Asensio replacing Vinicius. Later on, it was Eden Hazard and Toni Kroos getting summoned from the bench for Odriozola and Isco, respectively.

 

The golden moment for Alcoyano came with just minutes remaining, with Juli kicking off a counter-attack that was beautifully continued by Diakite and Anton, with the former crossing for Juanan, who appeared at the near post and steered home a shot past Alcoyano to give the hosts an improbable 2-1 lead.

 

There was no last-minute miracle for Madrid this time, as the Segunda B side closed things out to pocket a victory that will reverberate throughout Spain.

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