Leganes vs Real Madrid: Match review | OneFootball

Real Madrid secured passage to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey with a 3-2 win over Leganes in the last eight of the competition in Wednesday’s clash at the Estadio Municipal de Butarque.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men will learn their opponents for the round next week and are set to be paired against Atletico Madrid or one of Real Sociedad/Osasuna and Valencia/Barcelona for the two-legged affair.

Against Leganes in the quarter-final, Madrid were put on the back-foot by a strong start from the home side, which forced a good save from Andriy Lunin within the first minute of kick-off.

After coming under the cosh, however, Los Blancos eventually overcame the pressure and took the lead through Luka Modric, who neatly finished off a move kickstarted by Rodrygo from the left flank in the 18th minute.

Just seven minutes later, Endrick doubled the visiting outfit’s lead as his close-range finish past Juan Soriano rounded off a scrappy duel in the box involving Brahim Diaz and Rodrygo. It was the Brazilian’s third goal in the Kings Cup for Real Madrid after his match-winning brace against Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Round of 16 roughly three weeks ago.

It was not all that comfortable for the Merengues afterwards, however, as Leganes remained determined to fight back and got the chance to pull a goal back five minutes ahead of half-time.

A penalty conceded by Jacobo Ramon was slotted past Lunin by Juan Cruz, who ensured that Los Pepineros went into the break very much alive in the contest and just one goal down.

Once the second half got underway, Real Madrid introduced Vinicius Junior into the fray but at the hour-mark, it was Leganes who equalised. Cruz got their goal once more as Real Madrid threw away a two-goal advantage in the Copa del Rey for the second time in as many games having done so against Celta in their previous fixture too. Their frustration was compounded by numerous missed chances thereafter.

For Real Madrid, it was crucial to avoid extra time ahead of gruelling fixtures versus Atletico Madrid and Manchester City on the horizon and so they did with a stoppage time winner from Gonzalo Garcia. The Castilla forward scored a powerful header off Brahim Diaz’s cross in the third minute of injury time to seal the deal for Los Merengues, who came away with a hard fought but deserved victory.

The semi-final of the Copa del Rey will be contested in the week of February 26th and April 2nd, with Real Madrid potentially three games away from their third trophy of the campaign having already won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Intercontinental Cup in the first half of 2024/25. Up next for the Whites is the Madrid Derby against Atletico, who they host at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, February 8th.