Real Madrid thrashed by lowly Alcorcón in Copa del Rey
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 @ 10:10 AM
The first humiliation of Real Madrid's second galactic age arrived in the Copa del Rey last night, when Manuel Pellegrini's side were hammered 4-0 by Alcorcón from Spain's regional Second Division B, Group II.
Even a second-leg turn around at the Bernabéu will not undo the damage done to a club that spent €254m (£229m) in the summer. During his first spell as president Florentino Pérez went through six coaches in three years. Just eight weeks into his debut season, and with the pressure having already built after a series of disappointing displays, Pellegrini will be concerned for his future.
"There's no explanations. We were focused and the training sessions were very good, but Alcorcón played very well, Pellegrini told Marca after the game. "We hope our fans can forgive us after this defeat."
Madrid did not even have the excuse of having put out a starting XI made up of youth-teamers. Although Iker Casillas was replaced in goal by Jerzy Dudek, Cristiano Ronaldo was injured and Kaká and Xabi Alonso were left out, there was a place in the side for the club's other galáctico, the €35m striker Karim Benzema.
He was joined by the captain Raúl, plus Raúl Albiol, Guti and Rafael van der Vaart. Not one youth team player was included as Madrid travelled to the Municipal de Santo Domingo stadium just south of the capital, where temporary seating had raised the capacity from 3,000 to 4,000.
"It is our goal to win every competition." Pellegrini had insisted before the match. That will take a huge second leg victory now. Alcorcón had fired three warnings in the opening three minutes alone and were 3-0 up before half-time, thanks to goals from Borja Pérez and Ernesto Gómez and an own goal from former Liverpool full-back Alvaro Arbeloa.
It was 4-0 eight minutes into the second half and Madrid were grateful the scoreline was not even more embarrassing: the home side hit the post and wasted a series of chances, while Dudek was Madrid's outstanding performer.
"Our opponents...we've seen it 3,200 times before," Pelligrini said. "A team who were tremendously motivated and were able to play at their best. I saw them in recent games, we had reports, but they played very well.
"We need to react. We are going to find difficult opponents all over the place. We need to play well everywhere. I am not thinking about my job or about resigning, only the next match."
Source: The Guardian