I don’t usually cover the Copa del Rey, to put it mildly, because it’s the Copa del Rey, to put it mildly. But when Real Madrid are knocked out of a tournament by a third-division team at the Bernabéu, it’s worth a mention. Particularly as it’s never happened before. Particularly as the winning goal was a brilliant header in injury time. Say hello to Real Unión. Video ahead.
Unión, currently ranked at the top of Group 1 of Spain’s Segunda División B, had stolen a shock 3-2 home win against Madrid in the first leg two weeks ago, in a match that was overshadowed by the on-pitch collapse of Rubén de la Red. For the second leg, Madrid coach Bernd Schuster decided he’d treat the game as more than a formality, and sent out Cannavaro, Van der Vaart, Sneijder, and Raúl in his starting lineup. The going-in-heavy approach seemed to work, as Raúl’s hat trick gave Madrid a 4-2 lead—6-5 on aggregate—with five minutes left in the match. Then, Unión’s Eneko Romo did this
to knock the ball over Jerzy Dudek and secure his team’s historic victory on away goals.
Now Bernd Schuster is facing job-security questions at Real Madrid and I’m anxiously looking forward to Unión’s match in the round of 16—probably against fellow lower-league side Polideportivo Ejido, who stunned Villareal 5-0 in the first leg. 5-0! The Soccernet match center for the Madrid-Unión game doesn’t even list most of the players on the Unión side. They only knew three of their names.
You do not know what’s going to happen in football. To put it mildly.
Read More: Real Madrid
by Brian Phillips · November 12, 2008
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Great presence of mind from the number 8 to dispatch the ball to the corner flag too. If that sort of level headed professionalism is typical of this Union team then maybe they can go all the way.
Even more impressive: Real Union aren’t top of the third division, they’re top of Group 1 in the third division (which is divided up by region).
Incidentally, the B sides of most La Liga teams also play in the third division – Real Madrid Castilla are in Group 2, and Barca Atletic are in Group 3 along with Villarreal B and Valencia Mestalla. [Sevilla Atletico are so good they’re in the second division.]
I made a small change to the post to clear that up, Linda, thanks. The best part of this is that they’re actually beneath Real Madrid Castilla on points.