Real Madrid’s debuts in the Copa del Rey have often led to uncomfortable procedures that brought them to the brink of choking in minefields. Nothing to do with the Three Kings Day recess in Cartagonova, the stadium to which he moved, a town of 1,300 inhabitants 20 kilometers from Cartagena: better grass and above all ten times more packed seats to see the European champion for the first time in the city in an official match. The distance to the rival, who has just reached the Second RFEF, the fourth step, is enormous, and Madrid also showed up ready to leave no room for doubt: they accelerated from the beginning and took Minera ahead on the way to eighths
0
Fran Martínez, Monty (Sandji Baradji, min. 45), José Mas, Juanmi Heredero (Diego Sheffield, min. 45), Fran Molina, Damián Petcoff, Omar Perdomo, Javi Vera (Raúl Sanchís, min. 76), Pipo (Domingo Pujante, min. 61), Cristhian Britos and Francis Ferrón (Sergio Cortado, min. 61)
5
Andrii Lunin, Diego Aguado, Fran García, Lorenzo Aguado (Lucas Vázquez, min. 62), Raúl, Federico Valverde (Dani Ceballos, min. 45), Eduardo Camavinga (Kylian Mbappé, min. 62), Luka Modric (Vinícius Júnior, min. 62), Brahim Díaz (Chema Andres, min. 62), Arda Güler y Endrick.
Goals
0-1 min. 4: Federico Valverde. 0-2 min. 12: Camavinga. 0-3 min. 27: Arda Guler. 0-4 min. 54: Modric. 0-5 min. 87: Arda Guler
Referee Javier Alberola Rojas
yellow cards
Juan Miguel Heredero (min. 9)
The team led by Popy, a 37-year-old local police officer, two years younger than Modric, tried to come out looking confident, touch by touch from behind, but Real brought them down to earth with two attacks of a pressure that they did not want to leave behind. . The siege began, and so did the catalog of saves by Fran Martínez, a 25-year-old goalkeeper who once went through the Valdebebas youth academy, where he coincided with Fran García, this time opposite him as a starter on the left side. He collected five balls from the net, but prevented even more with a remarkable collection of 17 saves, many of them in challenging one-on-one situations.
Real immediately got rid of that little mistrust that these games that seem so unbalanced usually cause. Brahim put a ball to the far post and Valverde volleyed it. Ancelotti does not reserve the Uruguayan even in these places. He only retired it at half-time, already with 0-3.
The match was a monologue in which Madrid had fun displaying virtuosity: roulette, heels, dazzling combinations to which La Minera, determined to maintain order, was always late. With this panorama, even Camavinga freed himself from his structural position and ventured out until he seemed like a regular in the area. So much so that he had three clear chances, and ended up hitting a header on a defender.
There was a party in the stands, with a wave that ran around the perimeter for minutes, and also on the field, where Brahim, Modric and Güler showed off their repertoire while also searching for their goals. The first to get it right was the Turk, who beat Fran Martínez with a deflected shot on a rebound. It was not easy to overcome him. Later the Croatian achieved it, placid in the area from pass to pass with Brahim.
Everything had a certain aroma of a newly opened Three Kings gift. Also for the homegrown players who made their debut: Lorenzo at right back and Aguado as a center back paired with Asencio. They handled the little work they had with aplomb. Only Endrick seemed tormented, as he couldn’t find the goal and was losing himself in his desperation.
He was the only one. Even Ancelotti, very troubled this season, smiled while lying on the bench. The Italian also gave Chema his debut in the center of the field, and did not leave the public without seeing Vinicius and Mbappé, who had started the match on the wing. They did not score, but a counterattack by the Frenchman led to the fifth, the goal with which Güler closed the party. It was a brief parenthesis in a distressed season, on the verge of flying to Jeddah to play the Super Cup semi-final against Mallorca on Thursday.
