Real Madrid suffered a humiliating 2-1 home defeat by Leganes on Wednesday to exit the King’s Cup at the quarter-final stage on away goals. A much-changed Real side, missing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, held a 1-0 advantage from the first leg.
But their troubled season hit a new low as they were outplayed by a team lying 13th in La Liga.
Leganes started brightly and Claudio Beauvue sent a free kick against the post in the opening exchanges, and the visitors were deservedly level on aggregate after half an hour.
A mishap between Achraf Hakimi and Nacho allowed Javier Eraso the space to produce a stunning finish from outside the box.
Beauvue sent a volley into the side netting on the stroke of half-time as a shell-shocked Real were jeered off the pitch at the break.
That appeared to bring about a reaction from the home side and Karim Benzema produced a neat finish from an acute angle immediately after the restart.
This put Zinedine Zidane’s men ahead on aggregate.
Leganes centre-back Dimitris Siovas missed a gilt-edged chance as he headed back across the six-yard box with the goal gaping.
But moments later Gabriel Pires made no mistake as he thumped home a header to put Leganes through on away goals.
They joined Valencia, who defeated last season’s finalists Alaves on penalties earlier on Wednesday, and Sevilla, who knocked out Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, in the draw for the last four.
League leaders FC Barcelona host Espanyol on Thursday, trailing 1-0 from the first leg in the last quarter-final fixture.
Source
Reuters | NAN
Barcelona will name its new coach on May 29, two days after the Copa del Rey final, president Josep Bartomeu confirmed on Sunday after the La Liga season ended.
Reports in the Barcelona media last week said the club have already agreed a two-year deal with Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde after Luis Enrique confirmed this will be his last season in charge of the Catalan club.
We thank Luis Enrique for the effort he has put in the demands he placed on himself. The door is open. Now we have the Copa.
On May 29, we have a board meeting and we will announce the name of the new coach after. Bartomeu said.
Real Madrid were crowned champions after finishing top of the table in La Liga, three points above second-placed Barcelona on the last day of the season, but the later has a contest in the cup final against Alaves on Saturday.
Bartomeu also said he was not concerned with the contract situation of star Lionel Messi, whose current deal is set to expire after next season claiming negotiation will continue with the star.
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