The humble Alcoyano inflicts another painful Defeat to Real Madrid in the Cup

ALCOY, Spain, Jan 20- Real Madrid were eliminated from the Copa del Rey on Wednesday after suffering a surprising 2-1 loss to the humble Alcoyano. The Segunda B team scored an unlikely goal in extra time, after staying with 10 men on the field.

Eder Militao headed a cross from fellow Brazilian Marcelo to give Real Madrid an advantage late in the first half, but Alcoyano substitute José Solbes headed in after a corner to equalize the hosts with 10 minutes remaining.

Ramón López, from Alcoyano, received a second yellow card in the 110th minute for a foul committed on Casemiro that left his team with one man less, but instead of trying to find the penalty shoot-out, the locals went ahead five more minutes late, scoring the winning goal, when midfielder Juanan shot close to the goal.

“We are in a cloud, we still don’t know what we have done,” Alcoyano goalkeeper José Juan said.

Real Madrid coach, Zinedine Zidane, said: “It is not a shame. These are things that happen in a footballer’s career and you have to assume responsibility. I assume it and we are going to continue working. It is another painful day. like to lose. “

Zidane made nine changes to the team that was beaten 2-1 by Athletic Bilbao in the semifinal of the Spanish Super Cup last week, but still presented a strong starting eleven, with five Champions League winners.

Later he removed stars like Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Eden Hazard from the bench, but the “galacticos” were overtaken by the semi-professional team, which has a total budget of 700,000 euros, less than what many Madrid players earn each month .

Madrid appeared to be in control for most of the game but had few clear chances.

Fede Valverde put goalkeeper José Juan to the test with a powerful long-range shot in the first half, and the goalkeeper also thwarted an attempt by Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr. after the break.

Militao fell into the area at the end of the second half after Solbes had drawn but no penalty was awarded, while substitute Marco Asensio also called for the maximum penalty on a play early in extra time, and saw a scoring opportunity thwarted. for the work of José Juan.

Marcelo then had the chance to equalize in extra time, but the ball crashed off the crossbar.

Fans were not allowed to enter the El Collao de Alcoyano stadium due to coronavirus restrictions, but the game could be watched from the walls surrounding the pitch, and players and spectators exploded with joy when the final whistle sounded.

In this way, Real Madrid suffered its most resounding defeat in the Cup since it was eliminated by Alcorcón, then in Second B, in 2009/10. In 2015/16 the club was expelled from the competition for having lined up a player suspended in the round of 32 against Cádiz.

(Information from Richard Martin; edited by Toby Davis; translated by Tomás Cobos)