There is barely a worst feeling for a giant team than getting thrashed by an inferior team in front of your own fans.
Real Madrid was humiliated at the Bernabeu last night in a match that would have seen them continue their quest for a major trophy this season.
The Copa Del Rey has a new format which included extra teams in the competition. This inclusion made the ties of the competition one legged until the semi finals.
Zinedine Zidane and his Real Madrid team skipped past several difficult hurdles to make it to the round of 16 of the competition and were paired against Real Sociedad. A win against Sociedad would take Zidane to his first ever Copa Del Rey semifinal as a coach of Real Madrid but unfortunately, it was never to be.
With Casemiro, Lucas Vazquez, Eden Hazard, Ferland Mendy, Dani Carvajal, Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio all missing in the squad, Zidane still had enough quality replacements to see off Sociedad.
As the match started and wore on, Sociedad were comfortable sitting back and efficiently breaking through Real Madrid’s press and countering them excellently.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, who were coming into the match at the back of a 21 game unbeaten run with 16 wins and 5 draw. You have to trace back to October 2019 to find out when Real last lost and to cap it all, they haven’t lost a game at home all season.
This were records most teams would kill to acquire but acquiring was one thing for Zidane and retaining was a different thing altogether.
Zidane made several rotations in a match as seemingly important as this one, against a team who is challenging for European spots in La Liga.
As the match begun, Sociedad showed glimpses of their quality and plans but the Real Madrid players paid no serious attention to them. Their striker, Alexander Isak who scored two goals in the night would have score four and more if he were a bit clinical with some of his wasted chances.
Marcelo, Nacho, James were all poor tonight and the absence of Casemiro was laid bare. The team found it difficult marking as tight as they have always did and at the end, they paid for it by conceding four goals. This is a loss that is painful, knowing the fact that Zidane hasn’t crossed the quarters in his three full stints at the club. One trophy is gone, two more to go for the whites.
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