Real Madrid emerged unscathed from their awkward cup game against a solid, resilient and plucky Cacereño who is three divisions below the European champions. A fantasy from Rodrygo, who takes Cáceres as seriously as Qatar, prevented Ancelotti’s men from gaining an overtime that would have made the 300-kilometer return journey by bus even more awkward, and qualified the Whites for the round of 16 that will be raffled at Saturday
When the show opened at Príncipe Felipe, the great unknown was the classic of these qualifiers with such diverse categories. Until when could the illusion of cacereño hide the distance. Or how close to its best, Madrid would manifest backstage, armed with a few odd bits, with eight starters at home.
The enthusiasm of the locals allowed them to even the duel on a very remarkable track. No sign of the 10,000 miles they had traveled since the day after Christmas when they flew to Nepal for two friendlies, a trip that brought them back to Cáceres and barely had time to count the New Year’s grapes. They didn’t look like bruised and battered footballers, more like they would have looked had they stayed in Extremadura to prepare for what they felt was the most important game of their careers.
Julio Cobos’ team even pushed up Lunin, one of the odd ones that emerged in Cáceres. They made the start difficult, with energy, courage and order. Also with sense when they conquered the ball. And with a fang. They threatened Carmelo, Télles, Iván Fernández and Manchón, who shot more often (9) than the whites (7).
These games also serve to measure commitments and ambitions in the big teams. Among Ancelotti’s men, the temperature measured by Eden Hazard was freezing. The Belgian, who had withdrawn from his team after the disappointing World Cup, did not play in Cáceres either. His emptiness was made even clearer by the contrast with his two teammates above, Rodrygo and Asensio, with the Spaniard being particularly dedicated and persistent.
Like Hazard, Odriozola had a chance down the left flank, to whom Ancelotti gave his first minutes of the season. He could hardly capitalize on that between the odd position, lack of habit and the misfortune of an injury that forced him to retire after 51 minutes.
At that time, Cacereño, still keeping a clean sheet, continued to hold his own, continued to harass Madrid and threatened Lunin. And the grandstands, twice as big for the occasion, celebrated with the wave.
However, resistance reached him a little later, to a point that coincided with the departure of Hazard, who was replaced by Castilla striker Álvaro Rodríguez, who made his first-team debut and headed up the first ball they passed to him.
But it wasn’t the youth team player that unwound the mess Madrid seemed to be getting themselves into, rather a blinding flash from Rodrygo. The Brazilian linked two dribbles from a corner of the box and a fantastic shot with a defender for a corner that Iván Moreno couldn’t reach. Rodrygo, who has done everything this season from assisting Madrid in the absence of Benzema or Brazil without Neymar, to unlocking a tricky cup game, blew to the sky with three shots and then ratcheted up the indices at night. He pointed to Pelé, who was fired yesterday on his most recent trip: to the Santos Stadium cemetery, where the Madrid striker grew up.
Not even melted Cacereño, who endured the pressure and finished the game, and his exciting path in the cup by entering the Lunin area.
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