The Whites go through to the Last 16 of the King's Cup
Real Madrid 2-1 Alicante
January 02, 2008 -Tension, emotion... The King's Cup. Real Madrid got their ticket to the Last 16 with an amazing last minute goal after Alicante had been pushing them against the ropes during the entire second half. The Bernabéu roared with joy when Guti defeated keeper Ricardo.
The first match of the year at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium was very important for Real Madrid's interests this season. The Whites haven't had a good run in the King's Cup in a very long time and want to win the title. The round was to be decided tonight due to the 1-1 draw achieved in the first leg. Alicante once again proved to be a worthy opponent with a very offensive style that looked to suprise their rival at all times.
Real Madrid's starting line-up was rather unusual and had a lot of new faces: Dudek was on goal, Sergio Ramos and Heinze played as centre backs, and Michel Salgado and Marcelo took full back duties, giving the team a more offensive quality.
Cold night
Under the intense Madrid cold, the first few minutes were clearly dominated by Real Madrid, but Alicante pulled off a couple of suprising attacks. The first chance of the encounter came from a header by Gago on the 3-minute mark that was easily saved by Ricardo. Soldado took a shot just moments later, but the keeper once again grabbed the ball. Higuaín also tried several times, but was unlucky.
The goal finally came in the 30th minute from a shot by Robben -the Dutchman's first as a Real Madrid player-; Higuaín crossed the ball into the box and Robben scored with a semi-volley shot.
The match grew even colder in the second half, which hardly saw any chances on goal. Alicante kept looking to score and they finally suprised everybody when Borja finished off a cross by Álvaro from inside the small box.
Despite the scare, Real Madrid kept trying to net a winner and Gago missed the best chance of the game, sending the ball to the post from inside the area. Alicante had Real Madrid against the ropes for several minutes and even had chances to win the game and go through to the next round, but Guti made use of his genius and netted an impressive last-minute strike from outside the box; his shot curved beautifully into the goal, giving the Whites a ticket to the Last 16 round of the King's Cup.
The emotion typical of King's Cup encounters was palpable during tonight's clash. Alicante, who made an excellent impression in the first leg, were confident throughout the encounter and had options of making it through themselves. They were a very surprising side and the Bernabéu crowd gave them a standning ovation at the sound of the final whistle.
MATCH REPORT:
2 - Real Madrid: Dudek, Salgado, Sergio Ramos, Heinze, Marcelo (Miguel Torres, 60’), Gago, Robben, Guti, Balboa, Soldado (Saviola, 60’) & Higuaín.
1 - Alicante C.F: Ricardo, Malo, Catalá, Tito (Ricardo Cavas, 79), Álvaro, Cañadas, Alan, Joan Tomas (Capi, 57’), Germán, Azkoitia & Borja (Luis Gil, 67’).
REFEREE: Bernardino González Vázquez. Booked Azkoitia (55’).
GOALS:
1-0, min.30: Robben.
1-1, min.62: Borja.
2-0, min.90: Guti.
NOTES: Second leg of the King's Cup Last 32 round. Before the match, 22 children from Real Madrid Academies displayed a banner that read, "Just Causes: Social Integration for Immigrants."
Match report by Arancha Díaz
Photography by Alejandro González, Fernando Comeche & Elisa Estrada
Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell
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