The transfer to the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey football lacked surprises and the main favorites expressed their superiority in the confrontations, although without brilliance and without the distance that is assumed against lower level rivals.
This was the case of Real Madrid, who beat Arandina (1-3), Atlético Madrid, who beat Lugo (1-3), Girona, winner against Elche (0-2), Getafe, who knocked down the Espanyol (0-1) or Rayo Vallecano, who eliminated Huesca (0-2) in the final stretch of extra time. The duel between two First Division teams, played in Vitoria, ended with Alavés qualifying, beating Betis (1-0).
None of them won with solvency, with comfort. Real Madrid couldn’t beat Arandina, from the Second RFEF until the second half. The match reached halftime without goals, tied. And it was two minutes into the second half when, through Brahim Díaz, the match became unbalanced.
First, he caused a penalty that Joselu converted. And a minute later he was the scorer of the second goal that ended the hope of the Aranda de Duero team. In the last minutes, Rodrygo scored the third and then, in the last play of the game, an own goal from Nacho brought enthusiasm to the stands. Arandina had been able to mark the current champion and fell with honor.
“We know the difficulty of these games on the field, but there are no excuses, we have to play these games,” Joselu said after the game. The attacker opened the scoring by converting the penalty. He ended his team’s bad streak from eleven meters. “I have taken many penalties in my life and I am confident in scoring them.”
Atlético Madrid woke up on time and left their affairs resolved before leaving for Arabia to play in the Super Cup. He suffered more than expected to bring down the enthusiasm of Lugo (1-3), which for several minutes dreamed of another cup feat.
It was with a double by the Dutchman Memphis Depay, between the 65th and 73rd minute, how he settled his gray Atlético de Madrid match at the Anxo Carro stadium, against a grown Lugo that did not blame Ángel Correa’s early goal and that ended up drawing 1-1 with a goal from Puerto Rican Antonetti.
Diego Pablo Simeone was forced to bring out all his artillery in the second half. Thus, after the break he brought on Rodrigo de Paul, Koke and Antoine Griezmann and at the hour mark, with the situation now straightened out, Marcos Llorente and then Álvaro Morata.
“When I review the game I will value more the individual performance of each one, but today I congratulated Galán for his drive and his desire. Those are the players we need, who are rebellious, who get angry, who play with enthusiasm, who make mistakes but who want to compete,” Diego Pablo Simeone stressed at a press conference.
Girona also did not fail in the Copa del Rey, moving into the round of 16 after beating Elche 0-2 at home. Michel Sánchez’s team extended its state of grace with the work of a great team. He didn’t need a great game, nor to dominate. A couple of blows were enough for him to overcome an opponent who appeared superior on many occasions. Elche had several arrivals. But the efficiency of Girona, which unbalanced the duel with goals from the Dutchman Daley Blind on the brink of half-time and from the Brazilian Yan Couto in the final stretch that sealed the duel, made the difference along with goalkeeper Juan Carlos, who was decisive in key moments.
“We have suffered a lot, but we are in the second round and now we will see which team we get. There is a squad to compete in two competitions. We do not have the obligation to win either, but we are excited about both,” explained Girona coach Michel.
A timely goal three minutes from time by Luis Milla was enough for Getafe to achieve their goal and place themselves in the round of 16. When the clash in Barcelona, against Espanyol, seemed destined for extra time, Milla’s goal came after receiving the ball from the Turkish Enes Unal, who is little by little finding his best level after the serious ligament injury he suffered and the months of recovery.
Getafe emerged victorious from the Stage Front Stadium against an opponent who knew how to measure up.
Rayo Vallecano suffered the most, needing extra time to survive in the tournament. They struck down Huesca in the last two minutes of extra time after a very clean match by the Huesca team, who fought until exhaustion against the Madrid team and also had a chance of winning the tie (0-2).
With the match doomed to penalties, Oscar Valentín appeared to destroy the local illusions by finishing a combination with his teammates into the net with a header from Falcao. And later, with Huesca focused on Rayo Vallecano’s goal, Isi Palazón would make the score 0-2 and seal the pass for the Madrid team.
The duel between ‘firsts’ was scored by Alavés, who left Betis out of the tournament (1-0). The Vitorian team capitalized on the goal by Uruguayan Carlos Benavídez, which reflected the best performance of the local team, more motivated and more adapted to the commitment.
The goal did justice in Mendizorroza and gave the pass and the victory to an Alavés that crashed a ball into the post against a Betic team with few resources, which continues to have problems away from Benito Villamarín and who took a knee in the only First Division duel Division of the round of 32 of the cup competition.
“I expected a response from the team from the first minute and that response has not come. It was a very bad day,” remarked the Betis coach, the Chilean Manuel Pellegrini, who hoped that the defeat “serves as a lesson.”
“We needed a joy, to enter the locker room and for them to enjoy themselves,” said Luis García Plaza, Alavés coach. “The team gives everything, fights, has character and ambition.”
On Sunday the poster for the round of 16 will be completed with the remaining matches: Amorebieta – Celta de Vigo, Real Burgos – Mallorca, Racing Ferrol – Sevilla, Castellón – Osasuna, Unionistas de Salamanca – Villarreal, Cartagena – Valencia, Éibar – Athletic Club , Barbastro – Barcelona, Málaga – Real Sociedad and Tenerife – UD Las Palmas.
2024-01-06 22:40:00
#Real #Madrid #fall #Arandinas #trap
