Real Madrid had to work hard in the cup on Thursday night. Los Blancos put their backs on the wall, but their outnumbered Elche turned the game into the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.
Moss on the floor, Real Madrid cheer: The royals in the quarter-finals.
AFP via Getty Images
Real Madrid won, on Sunday, the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, with a 2-0 victory over Bilbao. Just a few days later, the royals were challenged in Elche, and the Round of 16 of the King’s Cup was on the agenda. Some regular players such as Courtois or Benzema did not travel with the royal team. Ancelotti rotated quite a bit, including substitute goalkeeper Lunin, Marcelo, Nacho, Camavinga and Jovic and allowed them to play from the start. After a long time, Bale returned to the team, sat on the bench.
Carrillo misses a big opportunity
Outsider Elche started lightly and immediately played boldly forward. The hosts should have taken the lead in the 10th minute, but Carrillo hit the crossbar from close range instead of the empty goal. A huge opportunity for the striker and very lucky for Real. Carrillo was pretty straightforward in the first half hour, but he’s also unlucky in the end, like a header, which Lunin tackled (27).
It was a poor first half from the royal family. Because in attack, the Whites would have had no ideas without the outstanding striker Benzema. Vinicius Junior kept stumbling on the left side, Jovic and Rodrygo almost invisible. Before the break there were at least two shots on goal from Camavinga, both of which went in the middle (40′, 43′). So he went aimlessly in the cabins.
Soon, the story of the second half was told: it was a football match at a manageable level, almost nothing happened in front of both goals. Substitute Casemiro has the only chance worth mentioning, as Werner goalkeeper Schlinzer Ilch got the ball from the right corner (77). Nothing happened anymore, so it just went into overtime.
Marcelo Fly – Verdo Scores
In the first half of overtime, there were a lot more performances than in the second half of regulation time. Firstly, Gumbau failed from a corner free kick to the goalkeeper in Lunin (96th position). Elche was now more active going forward – and suddenly another man: after a counterattack – which was preceded by Isco’s loss of the ball – Moriente was free, and perhaps Marcelo easily beat him as the last player. Straight red for Brazilian (102). It was even more bitter for Real, because after the next free kick, the royals were at the back: Verdo first hit the wall, but he got the rebound and pulled it right away – Ceballos veered away from the untenable Lunin (103).
Real Madrid beat the game
The underdog now had all the trump cards in his hand, and the royals had their backs against the wall. But Real was not impressed by being outnumbered: Isco cleverly put his foot in Ceballos’ shot – equalizer (107). Obviously, the royals did better with less man, and almost nothing came of Elche. The hosts played very passively with a majority – and this was punished: the through ball was passed to Alaba by Hazard, and he rotated Werner’s quick turn and completed the empty goal (115). A huge mistake by Werner, who didn’t necessarily have to get out of his box, and the timing was completely missing.
Goals and cards
1: 0Gonzalo Verdo (103 inch)
1: 1Isco (108′)
1: 2E Hazard (115′)
Elche
real Madrid
referee team
game info
Stadium
Manuel Martinez Valero
An error that ended up costing Elche for the game. The hosts scored the supposed equalizing goal by Fidel shortly before the end of the match, but before that, referee Jorge Figueroa punished Vazquez Verdo for a foul on Vazquez (120). Shortly thereafter, the referee was in focus again when he showed Lipper Milla his traffic light card (122′). Shortly thereafter, Real moved into the cup quarter-finals.
