Real Madrid did not look at their best against Cacereno but ultimately, they were able to get the job done and book their place in the next round of Copa del Rey. A goal from Rodrygo in the 69th minute proved to be the difference between the two teams and the game allowed the opportunity for Carlo Ancelotti to give some players a run out in the park while a few of the regulars were allowed some rest.
The likes of Eden Hazard, Marco Asensio, Eduardo Camavinga, Nacho, Dani Ceballos and Lucas Vazquez got much needed starts while Alvaro Odriozola played his first minutes this season. Sergio Arribas and Alvaro came off the bench.
Thus, all in all, it was a positive experience despite the game being much tighter than was expected. Real Madrid are through to the round of 16.
Ancelotti did not seem to be happy with the pitch on this occasion though. As reported by MARCA, the Real Madrid boss said:
"“You can’t play football. For me it’s not football, it’s another sport, nice because small teams can fight and compete with bigger teams. It’s good for the fans but the fans also want to see beautiful games.”"
Ancelotti unhappy with pitch despite Real Madrid’s win against Cacereno in Copa del Rey
At the end of the day, Real Madrid will take the win and move on, although some questions have been raised about their performances after the World Cup break.
Hopefully, they will get back in the flow as the season progresses. For now, grinding out wins should do, as the break and restart in the middle of the season due to the World Cup was always expected to give teams some trouble.
We did see the team run out of steam in the first half of the season in the weeks leading up to the World Cup break and that is something that Ancelotti must figure out a way to avoid. Giving players like Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Karim Benzema, Vinicius Jr, David Alaba and a few others a midweek rest should go some way in that respect.