Zidane accepts blame for Real Madrid's shock Copa del Rey exit

The Frenchman never won La Copa as a player and missed yet another opportunity to get his hands on the trophy as a manager.

Zinedine Zidane has accepted responsibility for Real Madrid’s exit from the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.

While an exit as early as in the Round of 32 is unacceptable enough from the Spanish champions, the more objectionable fact is they lost out to Alcoyano – a team from Segunda B, the third-tier of Spanish football.

10-man Alcoyano heroically fought back after going behind at the stroke of half-time.

Jose Solbes canceled out Eder Milatao’s goal late in the game, forcing the match into extra time. The disadvantaged team then found the winner in the 115th minute through Juanan and proceeded to the last-16.

Some staggering stats for #RealMadrid tonight 🤯(@SofaScoreINT).

– Odriozola had ZERO tackles, blocks or interceptions
– Marcelo lost possession 32 times
– Mariano only 17 touches in 67 mins
– Isco the most active (3 key passes, 6/8 long balls + 9/11 dribbles)
— Emily Wilson (@wilson_emt) January 20, 2021

Less than a week earlier, Real Madrid were dumped out of the Supercopa de Espana – and pressure continues to mount on Zidane.

“Things are said when we lose. I’m calm, I think the players wanted to win when they were on the pitch,” the French coach said post-match, via Marca.

“I think it’s my responsibility as coach. This is football.

“You have to take your chances. The ball didn’t want to go in and now, well, we’re out.

“The truth is that we have tried. We had chances, but these things can happen. It’s a tough time, we’re out. We had to do more, but we didn’t. But we have tried.”