Real Cup-hijacked by third division minnows

Real Madrid were given a Spanish Cup shock on Tuesday when third division minnows and unheralded city neighbours Alcorcon dished out a 4-0 drubbing to the nine-time European champions.

The tiny provincial side, with a miniscule annual budget of just 1.2 million euros – 300 times less than their esteemed visitors – added a notable footnote to their modest history in front of their home fans at the 3,000-capacity Estadio Municipal de Santo Domingo.

Real were undone by the club which was only founded in 1971 with an own goal by former Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa, Borja Perez’s brace, and Ernesto Gomez.

Not pleasant viewing for Real president Florentino Perez and club director Jorge Valdano watching from the stands.

If they fail to overturn the lopsided scoreline in the second leg of this Last 32 tie it will by no means be the first time Real Madrid have bid a hasty farewell to the Copa del Rey.

The Spanish giants, who last collected the title way back in 1993, were kicked out of Spain’s premier cup competition in 2008 by Third Division side Real Union, a loss that triggered the dismissal of coach Bernd Schuster.

Real’s embarrassing defeat on Tuesday came despite the presence of Raul and Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini welcoming back injured strikers Karim Benzema and Ruud van Nistelrooy but Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain, who also missed the club’s 0-0 draw with Sporting Gijon last weekend, were still sidelined.

Frenchman Benzema was injured in both feet while Dutchman van Nistelrooy has been out for several weeks with a thigh muscle injury.

Pellegrini elected to rest several top players, including Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso and Kaka, for the match.

Tuesday’s reverse came after a bad seven days which started with Real losing to AC Milan in the Champions League and then the goalless draw at Gijon.

Alcorcon’s achievement meanwhile knocked a sizeable dent in Pellegrini’s pre-match assertion that Real’s ambition was “to win every competition”.