Madrid’s doubts against Alcoyano’s morals

In the most chaotic season in history there is no time for lamentation. The real Madrid debuts in the Copa del Rey after the disappointment of the Spanish Super Cup, where they lost in the semifinals to the eventual champion, Athletic. In a week that mixes the League and the Cup for the four teams that last week played the Super Cup in Andalusia, Zidane’s pupils begin their career in the KO tournament by visiting the Alcoyano and its legendary moral.

Madrid does not arrive at its best moment of the course, because when they stumble against the lions in a tournament in which they defended the crown they join two draws in the last three league matches, who have left the whites four points behind Atlético when the colchoneros have played two fewer games. Zidane, aware of the roller coaster that the white bench is, assumes the situation again with his particular philosophy, also knowing that he has reversed complicated dynamics in his team a thousand and one times.

“Even if I get tired or not it doesn’t matter, this is not going to change. This is Real Madrid and in football there is one who wins and is good and the others are bad. When we lose there are criticisms. Well, it’s the game. It is not going to prevent me from continuing with what we are doing and moving this forward. It has happened to us before and Real Madrid always reacts », warned the French coach in the preview of the debut in the Copa del Rey, a tournament that has been especially elusive, both in his time as a Madrid player and from the bench, in the duties of head coach, as he has not yet been able to conquer it and has left Chamartín more upset than joy in recent years.

With the anticipation of quite a few rotations Although Zidane avoided giving any clue before the game, Madrid will visit the ancient El Collao, a scene that is old acquaintance. Not so long ago that the white team traveled to Alcoy for the last time. Also in the round of 32 of the Cup, in the 2012-13 campaign, the last one for José Mourinho on the bench at the Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid faced Alcoyano with a double win by 1-4 and 3-0. Much further back in time, when Alfredo Di Stéfano had not yet appeared to change the history of the club, Madrid had already known a stage that he visited in Alcoyano’s four seasons in the Primera, between the late 1940s and early 1990s. 50, with one win, one draw and two losses.

Gone are those golden years of the Alcoy team, which this season returns to the bronze category after a year of crossing the Third and navigates the noble positions of the group III-B table. Despite the lack of confidence this season, Zidane’s second unit should be enough to overcome Alcoyano. Without the injured Carvajal and Rodrygo and with Sergio Ramos, Varane, Modric and Odegaard out of the call Madridista, everything points to the presence in the eleven of footballers with little presence this season, such as Lunin, who would debut under sticks in an official match, Marcelo, Militao, Odriozola, Isco or Mariano.