Zinedine Zidane is no stranger to the hot seat at Real Madrid, and the pressure is back on the legendary player and manager after Los Blancos’ 2-1 embarrassment against Alcoyano in their first – and last – 2021 Copa del Rey match .
Losing extra time against Alcoyano was bad enough, but eventually losing the game? Unconscious. Real Madrid can not lose such matches to a third league team, and it was worrying how faint they look there.
Los Merengues held the ball for most of the game, but did nothing to create chances, and forwards Vinicius Junior and Mariano Diaz looked totally ineffective and unsuitable against Alyocano’s defense. Zidane’s adjustments appear to be too few, too late.
After the loss, Zinedine Zidane told reports that he did not consider the defeat against Alyocano a ‘disgrace’. Here is the quote from ESPN.com’s Adriana Garcia:
“I’m the coach, the responsibility is mine. I’m responsible. We played against a third league team and we had to win, but that’s not a shame. ”
Zinedine Zidane can not afford another loss like this
I can understand why Zidane would be so reluctant to call the result a ‘shame’, because he does not want to throw the players under the bus or even reduce the quality of the opposition.
But that performance WAS a disgrace. If the match is not a “shame” for Madridistas, I do not know what else is. Because it was humiliating.
So few players can say that they played well in this game. Lucas Vazquez and Eder Militao did everything in their power, and Marcelo and Isco were much better than in previous games. But Vinicius, Mariano, Alvaro Odriozola, Casemiro and so many other people did not seem to belong on the field. Considering how important Case and Vini were to Real Madrid in the 2019-2020 title campaign, their poor performances were particularly disappointing.
Zidane turned things around for Los Blancos in December when he last faced the hot seat after a second loss to Shakhtar Donetsk. This defeat against Alcoyano is a new low for Real, so more work needs to be done by EVERYONE at the club. Zidane gets the most heat, but he alone cannot bear the responsibility for these poor performances. They disappoint as a team and must in turn respond as a team.
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But make no mistake, this result was truly a disgrace. Real Madrid can not play bad again. There will be consequences, with Zidane feeling the majority of them.