Zinedine Zidane is wrong, it was a total disgrace

Zinedine Zidane is no stranger to Real Madrid’s hot seat, and the pressure is back on the legendary player and coach after Los Blancos’ embarrassing 2-1 loss to Alcoyano in their first – and last – Copa game del Rey from 2021.

Getting into extra time against Alcoyano was bad enough, but ultimately losing the game? Unconscious. Real Madrid can’t lose matches like this against a third division team, and it was alarming how dull they looked.

Los Merengues kept the ball for much of the game but did nothing in terms of creating chance, and forwards Vinicius Junior and Mariano Diaz looked utterly ineffective and unfit against Alyocano’s defense. Zidane’s adjustments turned out to be too little, too late.

Following the loss, Zinedine Zidane said he did not see the loss to Alyocano as a “shame”. Here is the quote from Adriana Garcia of ESPN.com:

“I am the coach, the responsibility is mine. I am responsible. We played against a third division team and we should have won, but that’s no shame.

Zinedine Zidane can’t afford another loss like this

I can understand why Zidane would be so reluctant to call the result ‘shame’ as he doesn’t want to throw the players under the bus or even diminish the quality of the opposition.

But this performance was a shame. If this game isn’t a “shame” for the Whites then I don’t know what else. Because it was humiliating.

So few players can say they played well in this game. Lucas Vazquez and Eder Militao did all they could, and Marcelo and Isco were much better than in previous matches. But Vinicius, Mariano, Alvaro Odriozola, Casemiro and so many others did not seem to belong on the pitch. Considering the importance of Case and Vini to Real Madrid in the 2019-20 title campaign, their poor performances were particularly disappointing.

Zidane turned things around for Los Blancos in December when he last faced the hot seat following a second loss to Shakhtar Donetsk. This loss to Alcoyano is a new low for Real, so more work needs to be done by EVERYBODY at the club. Zidane gets the most heat, but he can’t take responsibility for such poor performance on his own. They disappoint as a team and must react as a team in turn.

But make no mistake, this result was a real shame. Real Madrid can’t play so badly anymore. There would be consequences, Zidane feeling the majority of them.