Real Madrid suffered a shocking 2-1 defeat yesterday in their Copa del Rey clash against ten men Spanish third division side Alcoyano. Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane has, however, come out to defend his players.
The French international has said he had taken full responsibility for his team teams loss and an early exit from the Copa del Rey. He said he is upset, but the upset is “not a disgrace.”
Real Madrid lost 2-1 in extra-time in the last 32 with Alcoyano playing the previous 10 minutes of the game with ten men as one of their players Ramon Lopez was given a red card.
He also said: “We tried.” “The players gave their all on the pitch.” “I’m the coach, and the responsibility is mine. I’m responsible. We’ve played against a third division team, and we should have won, but it’s not a disgrace.”
The Madrid coach also said: “I’m calm. We will see what happens in the next few days.” Casemiro and Lucas Vazquez were the only regulars included in Zidane’s starting XI against Alcoyano.
However, Zidane brought out Karim Benzema after the hour and trio Toni Kroos, Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio at the start of extra time in the hope of finding the winner. But with all the addition of the players, they could not help them grab a win.
Zidane finally said: “This is football,” Zidane said. “These are things that happen in the life of a footballer. Had we scored the second goal, it would have been a different game. Their goalkeeper made two or three saves
Real Madrid have not been in the best of forms since the start of the season. They eliminated by Athletic Bilboa in their Spanish Super Cup semi-final clash and now they are out of the Copa del Rey.