Copa del Rey: Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid future uncertain after Leganes humiliation

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane took the blame for his side's loss against minnows Leganes in the Copa del rey and admitted that his future lied in a hang after a so far dismal season. Madrid lost hopes of another silverware as they lost on away goals with Leganes pulling off a 2-1 upset at the Bernabeu.

Zidane's decision to drop Ronaldo and Bale backfired as they suffered humiliation at the hands of Leganes

Real Madrid were ousted by minnows Leganes in the Copa del Rey after losing the second leg of the quarter-final despite coming into the game on a 1-0 advantage. In what can be termed as the biggest embarrassment for the Los Blancos in the dismal season, the Santiago Bernabeu was put to silence by an enthusiastic Leganes side who pulled off undoubtedly their biggest victory in club football. It is now manager Zinedine Zidane’s turn to face the sword and he has accepted that his fate lies in the Champions League, where Madrid will face a high flying Paris Saint Germain in the last-16.

Leganes took the honours of becoming the first ever football club to dump real Madrid out of the Copa after losing the first leg. Zidane’s decision to not play Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale backfired as the European champions succumb to a humiliating defeat. A draw would have been enough for Zidane’s men to keep their hopes alive in the competition but destiny had other plans. Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos were on the pitch to ensure Madrid had enough steel to down a team which they could beat on a given day and given circumstances. But the confidence was no where to be found, the team was a shadow of the force they were last season as they failed to avoid yet another low key display this season.

Marco Asensio’s goal had earned Madrid a 1-0 victory in the opening leg of the quarter-final which they were expected to capitalise on and throttle the minnows who would have never thought of putting one over the Los Blancos until last night. Leganes won 2-1 to progress into the semifinals overcoming Real Madrid, a feat they would like to put on top of everything they have achieved so far as a club. Javier Eraso opened the scoring for his side with a 25-yard screamer to bring the visitors on aggregate at the 31st minute.

After coming into the second half, levelled on score, Karim Benzema opened the scoring for Madrid, putting a pass from Lucas Vazquez pass past Nereo Champagne, the opponent keeper. However, just ten minutes later Gabriel Appelt Pires headed home the second for his side putting them ahead on away goals. With the crushing defeat in the Copa, chances of silverware for Madrid are rare now. They stand at the fourth spot in the La Liga, 19 points behind leaders Barcelona with Champions League remaining as the only potential title to tussle for.

Zidane after the defeat accepted that his future lies in hang and the Champions League tie against PSG could be the turning point of his managerial career. “Of course. That is really clear,” Zidane said when asked if his job was on the line. “I am responsible for this, I’m the coach. So I must find solutions. I must take on the situation. I will keep always fighting, keep working, try and look for things to make the team better. Nothing more,” he added.

Zidane who led Real Madrid to a record two successive Champions League triumph has failed to get his side rolling like the previous seasons. The latest defeat forced Zidane to accept that his side’s performance was not good enough to secure a passage in the semifinals of the competition.

“In the end the result is logical, as the opponent played their game and we did not,” Zidane said. “I am responsible for this, it is a failure for me today.

“Winning 1-0 there and taking on the return game as we began it today, I am angry at that and do not understand it. But now we must see how we will turn this around.”

“I am very disappointed and will take responsibility for all this. But I will keep working, tomorrow is another day, and what we must do is pick ourselves up and think of Saturday’s game [at Valencia]. But today is a very hard blow.
“I am responsible for this. I pick the team – and in the end I was wrong about many things. I am angry with myself, not with my players. My players tried, ran, maybe they played badly, they have part of the blame, but I am the most responsible.”

“The solution is to keep working. I will take on this situation and I will keep working as I have always done. You can ask what happens now? We will continue, we must change this, there are many games left to do it. Today is a failure for me.”

“We must give more, me first, as all that we have given so far is not enough, we must give more, train harder, help each other more, and we will try and do that.”

“I don’t regret leaving out players. Some players needed to rest. On paper this was a competitive team, then in the first half no, we did not compete,” the French veteran reckoned.

On being asked if this was Real Madrid’s worst season in a decade, Zidane assured that the season is not yet over and that they will try to get back on track with the Champions League. “I always think positively, even after this failure, even tonight when we must apologise to the fans. We have a game on Saturday, and on February 14 we have a Champions League game,” said Zidane.

Real will aim to bounce back from the loss and earn three crucial points in the La Liga when they face Valencia on Saturday. The players would hope to give the ‘Madridistas’ something to cheer about.

Visit the link below for match highlights:

https://youtu.be/CBbq2kX_Lak