Copa del Rey 2017/18: Fuenlabrada 0-2 Real Madrid - 5 Talking Points
Fuenlabrada 0-2 Real Madrid
Goals: Marco Asensio 63', Lucas Vazquez 80'
A trip to the city outskirts saw Real Madrid claim a 2-0 win over lower league side, Fuenlabrada in their Copa Del Rey first leg clash. The match was termed to be a total mismatch but Madrid failed to dominate proceedings as they were expected to.
It was an unsatisfactory performance from the European champions in a game where the club's youth got a chance to show their mettle.
It took the visitors an hour to open the scoring, courtesy of a penalty. Marco Asensio did the needful and Lucas Vazquez followed with yet another spot kick in the final quarter of the game.hard-fought game.
Both the teams ended the game with 10 men on the field in what was a hard-fought game. On that note, let's take a look at 5 major talking points from Real Madrid's win over minnows Fuenlabrada:
#5 Real Madrid's bench strength tested
Zinedine Zidane handed starts to the likes of Borja Mayoral, Achraf Hakimi, Dani Ceballos and Jesus Vallejo in the first leg, to take a closer look at the depth of this Real Madrid squad. If not for Theo Hernandez, Real Madrid would have fielded a playing XI all born in Spain for the first time since 1996. That would have been some kind of achievement!
In the absence of big names like Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, the young-blooded Real Madrid side got the job done, but failed to impress with their display. The first half saw a laboured performance from the visitors with the forwards trying too hard to impress at times and complicating matters in the process.
The first penalty was also a controversial one and despite winning this game, Zidane would be worried about his squad's bench strength. Barring the game against Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid have failed to impress in any of their games so far, which speaks a lot about the Champions League-winning squad.
Real Madrid's summer business raised a few eyebrows when they opted not to sign a big name and it has become certain that this Madrid squad has become weaker than in the previous campaign.