Real Madrid 2 – Fuenlabrada 2: quick recap from the Copa del Rey round of 32 second leg match

Real Madrid struggled in the first half but managed to dispatch Fuenlabrada of the third Spanish league thanks to a great cameo from Gareth Bale, winning on aggregate 4-2 after a 2-2 draw tonight. Here is a quick recap of the second leg match.

No, Real Madrid did not play well and yes, many fans will criticize the young players and Zinedine Zidane for a poor showing in the second leg against a lower division team. But, Los Blancos did what they had to do in this fixture and that was hang on to advance to the next round.

With a heavily rotated starting XI (as we expected), Real looked timid and discombobulated in the early going with so many young players on the pitch.

With so many academy and Real Madrid players playing together, the team looked like you would expect from a very young team. Young.

The passing was sloppy, there was a good amount of miscommunication between the center backs, Nacho and Alvaro Tejero, and there were no chances created.

The visitors, on the other hand, came out pressing the young Madrid players and created some very good chances inside of 20 minutes.

It was the visitors, Fuenlabrada, who broke through first as midfielder Luis Milla scored a howler of a goal that goalkeeper Keylor Navas couldn’t handle.

Navas clearly misread the shot and tried to tip it up and over the crossbar, but saw the ball deflect downward off the underside of the bar and into the net.

After Fuenla took the lead 25 minutes in to cut the Real Madrid aggregate lead to just one goal, the whistles and boos began raining down on the young players as they failed to put much if any pressure on the third-tier team.

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At the half, Fuenla was still within striking distance of tying the tie-up on aggregate.

Los Blancos came out in the second half with a sense of urgency as they began to keep possession and work their way up the field, looking for the deciding goal.

Fuenla came within inches of taking the lead when center back Cata Díaz sent a header directly off the crossbar and failed to put the rebound back on goal.

Real Madrid needed an injection of energy and a veteran to come in and that man was Gareth Bale, making his first appearance in the lineup since late September against Borussia Dortmund.

Within 30 seconds of being on the field, Bale sent a picture-perfect cross into the box and right onto the lunging head of Borja Mayoral who had been rather quiet for the majority of the match until this moment.

While the header from Borja deflected off the crossbar and spun into the side netting, you just can’t say enough about how incredible this cross from Bale was. He deserved the assist on this goal and he got it just.

It was Gareth who set up the second Real goal, taking a deflection off a Fuenla player, putting a shot on goal, with Mayoral following for his second goal of the match.

Fuenlabrada tied the match up late with a rebound goal but it was not enough to take down the giants.

My man of the match would have to go to Gareth Bale for his incredible energy and the number of chances he managed to create in such a short time. Other than Bale, Marcos Llorente was by far the best Real Madrid player on the field, playing in Casemiro’s position.

Llorente didn’t miss any of the passes he made over the course of the match and was great tracking back on defense. Mateo Kovacic and Keylor Navas looked incredibly rusty in their first match back, while Dani Ceballos and Achraf Hakimi were good, but didn’t impress like they have in past matches.

Real Madrid will have to wait until tomorrow’s fixtures are completed to find out who they will face in the round of 16, but the fact that Gareth Bale is back and playing like this is a great sign for the team going forward.

Next: Tuesday’s Real Links: Fighting for the Copa

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