Real Madrid suffered one of the most disastrous nights in their long
history as they were knocked out of the Spanish Copa de Rey by Real Union last
night.
Although Real Madrid won the return leg of their cup tie by 4-3in the
Santiago Bernabeu stadium, the fact they lost the first match 3-2 away to the
Basques two weeks ago means they go out of the competition on away goals
conceded.
Real Union plays in group one of Spain's Segunda B, effectively the third
category of Spanish football, and the defeat is a huge blow to a Real Madrid
team that has not won Spanish football's knockout competition since 1993.
A last minute goal from Real Union's Eneko Romo sealed Madrid¡¯s fate and gave
the visitors a historic result in the Bernabeu.
Real Madrid had been moments away from qualifying after Raul Gonzalez had put
them 4-2 ahead after 86 minutes with a left foot shot from outside of the area.
That goal was the Real Madrid captain's third of the night, but in the end
his hat-trick was to count for nothing.
The game had got off to a dreadful start for Real Madrid after their visitors
opened the scoring after just 13 minutes thanks to a goal from Paul Abasolo.
Raul levelled matters with his first of the night 10 minutes before Half
time, but Asier Salcedo restored Real Union's lead five minutes after the break.
Once again the Madrid captain brought his side level after 51 minutes and
when Alberto Bueno made it 3-2 after 68 minutes, Real Madrid looked to be on
their way to the next round.
Raul's hat-trick appeared to have sealed matters, but there was still time
for Romo to score the last goal of the night and condemn Real Madrid to a
humiliating cup exit.