Real Madrid needed a lot of effort and a little luck as they won 3-1 at Alcoyano in the last 32 of the Copa del Rey Wednesday, with two late goals helping them gain revenge for their defeat to the third-tier side last year.
It looked like deja-vu as Real returned to El Collao stadium 12 months after being humiliated 2-1 by the same team, who hail from a small town close to Alicante.
Just like last year, Eder Militao headed Real into the lead, but Dani Vega scored a magnificent equalizer, curling a left-footed strike into Andriy Lunin’s far top corner.
Real went ahead when Alcoyano’s Raul Gonzalez deflected a Marco Asensio shot into the net with his back, wrong-footing goalkeeper Jose Juan.
Two minutes later, substitute Isco took advantage of a mistake by two Alcoyano defenders and, after colliding with Jose Juan, the ball bounced off him and rolled into the goal.
Champions Barcelona survived an early scare as they fought back to secure a 2-1 win at third-tier side Linares Deportivo that sent them into the Round of 16.
Barca made the trip to Andalucia missing several players due to COVID-19 and injuries, but coach Xavi Hernandez still decided to rest some key names for the last-32 tie and they fell behind in the 19th minute to a Hugo Diaz header.
Xavi then brought on Frenkie de Jong, Gerard Pique and Ousmane Dembele in the second half, with the French winger equalizing with a low long shot that keeper Brimah Razak failed to stop.
A few minutes later, young academy striker Ferran Jutgla scored the winner with a cross-shot from the corner of the box after a counter-attack.
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