A whopping 19 points behind leaders Barcelona in the league, Real Madrid would have been hoping for some respite from their dismal domestic season with a comfortable Copa del Rey win against Leganes, a side 13th in La Liga, at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Instead, Zinedine Zidane’s band of super-strugglers found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-1 defeat which saw them dumped out at the quarter-final stage via the away goals rule.
Coming into the game with a 1-0 advantage from the first-leg, Zidane fielded a strong side, despite the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.
However, Javier Eraso leveled the aggregate score for the visitors on the half-hour mark after a woeful error from Nacho.
The hosts did get one back after the break, via a classy finish from Karim Benzema.
Alas, things soon took a turn for the farcical for Los Blancos as Leganes scored to nudge themselves back into the lead, with Brazilian midfielder Gabriel bagging the winner with a powerful header from a corner.
The game would end in a 2-1 victory for Leganes, who duly became the first team in Copa del Rey history to knock Real Madrid out at the Bernabeu after losing at home in the first leg – progressing into the last four on away goals.
As for Real, their season doesn’t look like rebooting anytime soon, with Zidane under serious pressure and the Champions League now their only remaining hope of silverware.