La Liga - All eyes on Pellegrini after Real cup humiliation

Eurosport - Wed, 28 Oct 11:41:00 2009

Manuel Pellegrini's future as Real Madrid coach was called into question after the big-spending side's 4-0 thrashing at third-tier Alcorcon in the first leg of their Copa del Rey tie.

FOOTBALL 2009-2010 La Liga Manuel Pellegrini en rueda de prensa / Foto: EFE - 0

The Segunda B side, from a satellite town to the south of Madrid, tore apart their near neighbours and could have won by a larger margin as they condemned the nine-times European champions to a third defeat in five outings on Tuesday.

"Go now!" sports daily Marca blared on Wednesday's front page, alongside a photograph of a shattered-looking Pellegrini.

Madrid-based AS led with "Ridicule of the century" while Barcelona-based Sport wrote: "This is the beginning of the end for Pellegrini."

After the game, Real's Chilean coach brushed away questions over whether he would consider resigning and club director general Jorge Valdano said it was important everyone stood together.

Team captain Raul echoed Valdano's calls.

"We win and we lose together so absolutely everyone is to blame," the striker said. "The display we put on isn't the one the club deserves, or one that sits well with our history. We ask for forgiveness and remind people the tie isn't over yet.

"If there is a club that knows about comebacks it is Real Madrid."

Daily El Mundo spread the blame beyond Pellegrini and questioned the motivation of Real's players saying: "None of them were able to replicate the exceptional work of Alcorcon: the commitment, the pressuring, the pace and the goals.

"Alcorcon showed all the properties a fan would want to see in their team."

The return leg is at the Bernabeu in two weeks and Alcorcon coach Juan Antonio Anquela - who was being dubbed 'Anqueloti' in the media - fought to keep the result in perspective while fans celebrated on the pitch outside.

"We haven't achieved anything yet. Real are capable of putting five past anyone," he said.

Pellegrini does not have the luxury of time to put things right. He faces a flurry of high-profile matches before trying to prevent a second consecutive Cup exit to a Segunda B side in the Cup.

Real were embarrassed by Real Union in the last season's competition.

He has a second city derby at home to Getafe in La Liga on Saturday, a trip to Milan in the Champions League next Tuesday, and then a third local derby at Atletico Madrid in the league.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 18 of 18

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  1. im a big fan of this great club realladrid and i want­ too say its only bad luck but pleas mr paresident­ change this pelgrini as soon as pleas

    From asif, on Fri 30 Oct 12:11AM

  2. i think pelli has to be sacked cox he does,nt know what­ he is there 4,he should pls allow benzima to play his­ free role in de attack...and i see no reason why­ benzima shoud allow be replace all the time...with the­ kind of players we have we can always come­ back...............i still belive we­ CAN.............HALA MADRID111111

    From HARRY, on Thu 29 Oct 10:13AM

  3. oh no...barca won 2-0 with 2 spectaculars goal..how­ about that madritas...?

    From Norli, on Thu 29 Oct 8:35AM

  4. Pedro score two beutiful goals yesterday and you know­ what!!!
    he is not an over hype galacticos that could­ not put a goal behind
    a division 4 team.
    It is realy­ pathetic.hahahhahhhhah hohohohohohohhohohoohoh

    From samimancourier, on Thu 29 Oct 8:19AM

  5. Excuse me, it was the 2007-2008 season that Roma beat­ Madrid. Surely Italian teams know exactly how to play­ against Real's circus.

    From Mike, on Thu 29 Oct 2:40AM

  6. Money does not buy success: it was Roma who beat Madrid­ in the Champions League first knock out stage last­ year.

    VIVA BARCELONA!!!

    From Mike, on Thu 29 Oct 2:28AM

  7. Let me tell you what is going to happen. Since Money­ Does Not Buy Success, madrid will not win anything. The­ same thing that happened last season will happen this­ season. Madrid lost to Juventus home and away last­ season, they will lose to Milan home and away this­ season. The are going to finish second in the groups of­ the champions league. They lost 4-0 to Real Union last­ season in Spanish Cup, they lost 4-0 against Alcorcon­ this season. They are going to get out of the Spanish­ Cup in the first round, just like last season. There­ goes their dream of winning the treble. But it does not­ end there. Madrid will sack Pellegrini before the­ Barcelona match, just like they did to Scutcher last­ season. Barcelona will Beat madrid in Camp Nou. Then­ Barcelona will be like 20 points away from madrid in La­ Liga. And there goes madrid's hopes of winning the­ La Liga. So madrid is going to focus on champions­ league. They will meet a tough team in the first­ knockkkk outtt round and will lose home and away, and­ get out for the 6th year in row out of 16th round­ champions league, just like they did with Liverpool. So­ now madrid is out of Spanish Cup and Champions League.­ They have no choice but to continue fighting for La­ Liga. Barcelona on the other hand is fighting in all­ three competition, to win the treble, so they might­ lose a game or two in La Liga, and madrid might come­ close to Barcelona, like 10 points close in La Liga.­ Than madrid will get all hyped up for the clasico in­ bernabeu, than Barcelona will humiliate them again,­ another 2-6 for Barcelona. And the pain does not stop­ there. After Barcelona wins the Spanish Cup, and La­ Liga, they will go on winning the Champions League in­ bernabeu, and see Capitan Karisma Puyol lift the trophy­ in bernabeu, and that will hurt all madrid fans. Than­ the new coach will be fired again in the summer, and­ another 300 million euros will be spend, just to catch­ up to Barcelona. Than the cycle just keeps continuing.

    From Money Does Not Buy Success, on Wed 28 Oct 10:09PM

  8. As Hoeness said many times Real is just a Circus of­ stars

    From Ardavan, on Wed 28 Oct 9:19PM

  9. hahahahaha, after spending 252,000,000 euros, Real are­ STILL struggling, hehehehehe

    From mike.sabbah, on Wed 28 Oct 8:43PM

  10. real madrid should put last night to play acuna no raul­ or guti

    From besa, on Wed 28 Oct 7:25PM

  11. real madrid should sack pellegrini and they must bring­ to their team one of this coachers:roberto­ mancini,michel laudrup,steve bruce with cana,luis­ aragoneses,luciano spaleti,gareth southgate.real also­ must sell kaka and benzema with­ raul,vanistelrooy,dudek,guti,m.diarra,gago,metzelder,th­ ey must buy cana from sunderland,gourcuff from­ bordeaux.do this real

    From besa, on Wed 28 Oct 7:24PM

  12. nr5 - i was replying to nr2 - marxx - read what he­ wrote and then you know what

    From Dave, on Wed 28 Oct 5:27PM

  13. I am not happy about the guy's rotational policy.­ The best players must be allowed to play to restore­ confidence.

    From tinselgroup, on Wed 28 Oct 4:08PM

  14. And so what Dave? Raul Albiol, Arbeloa, Metzelder,­ Diarra, Guti, Van der Vaart, Granero, Gago, Marcelo,­ Van Nistelrooy, Raul and Benzema all played - all­ costing and earning way more than Alcorcon could ever­ imagine.

    From pakeanutziarte, on Wed 28 Oct 3:46PM

  15. Couldn't agree more Maxx92.

    How typical of Marca­ to be spouting out Vete ya to Pellegrini, when only­ weeks ago they were hailing him as the manager to lead­ Real on to glory. This is the real Real Madrid, a team­ that thinks it can buy any player it wants be this by­ forcing the other team to sell or tempting them over to­ the dark side. Little wonder then that they have spent­ over 250 million euros, only for Pellegrini to inherit­ a team of mercenaries who play the part in kissing the­ badge and declaring " I've always wanted to­ play for Real" but fail to deliver on the pitch,­ in part due to their sheer arrogance and disrespect for­ their opponents. Go ahead sack him, but pay the­ remainder of his contract, and then spend another wad­ of cash on another manager, only for him to have the­ same problems. Money does not buy anything, and will­ certainly not buy success for Madrid. And then Banco­ Santander will be knocking at the Bernabeu. The triple­ is over, starting with the Copa del Rey, and hopefully­ my team will deprive them of another league in February­ when they visit the Heliodoro.

    From pakeanutziarte, on Wed 28 Oct 3:43PM

  16. KAKA, CRONALDO, ALONSO, HIGUAIN AND MANY MORE DIDNT­ PLAY!!!1

    From Dave, on Wed 28 Oct 3:34PM

  17. Looks like all that money on Ronaldo/ Kaka/ Benzema/­ Alonso didn't give them depth to compete on all­ levels. That is one revenue stream cut off. Was Perez­ looking at that to help pay his 'Galacticos'­ bill? Go ahead and fire Pellegrini. How long is his­ contract and how much will you pay to Spalletti or­ Mancini? Neither one strikes me as a guy who'll­ play puppet to you. So is that another 6 million euro­ on your bar tab? What now? Rush Ronaldo back, see him­ injured for the rest of the year, drop to 4th and see­ Real Mierdrid have a fire sale to keep from going­ bankrupt? Sounds fine to me. Bet those banks who issued­ the lines of credit to Perez are feeling pretty nervous­ right now.­ Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! This is­ funny. Couldn't happen to nicer people.

    From Maxx92, on Wed 28 Oct 3:17PM

  18. Really i dont know what to say,How can a Second­ Division Club wom Real madrid like that.That is not­ good,We need to change many things,the way we play,The­ way we attacked.cause working like these after much­ spending....we might land into no were.I think­ Pellegrini should be allow to head madrid,cause i know­ with time,we will be the chanmpion we used to be­ know.
    Alenjohn
    Malaga Spain

    From ALEN JOHN, on Wed 28 Oct 11:57AM
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