Copa de la Democracia
Pitch invasion on the continent of Africa! You might be wondering why that was the highlight from Spanish football on Tuesday, but it was because tiny AD Ceuta CF, from an 18.5 square kilometre area attached to the province of Cádiz, but separated by 20km of water, had dumped LaLiga side Elche out of the Copa del Rey.
Just before half-time, Rodri struck the only goal of the game from the penalty spot. A reasonable scoreline too. It wasn’t just the 6,500 fans at the Estadio Alfonso Murube that were making life uncomfortable for Elche, who would not create their first clear chance until Tete Morente struck the bar in the 82nd minute. The third-tier midfield had ‘eaten’ that of Elche until then, at least according to the commentator’s view. They were in the digestive system before Ezequiel Ponce’s expulsion on the hour-mark as well.
Granted those final ten minutes were peppered with sharp intakes of breath, but Ceuta played football too. The chains they formed to get out of pressure and up the field in those dying moments looked similar to those in Primera. The house of horrors that Elche are locked inside this season plays its own part. Jorge Almirón might be gone, but it would hardly be a surprise to see him back before the end of the season, with Pablo Machín looking like he is about to be fitth manager eaten by the situation.
Elsewhere Villarreal – after going a goal down – put five past Cartagena, while Valencia were comfortable in their 3-0 win over La Nucía. Those were anomalies though. Three of the six La Liga sides in action against lower league opposition were beaten. Levante ousted Getafe 3-2 in a thriller. As Real Oviedo gear up to host Atlético Madrid on Wednesday night, their Asturian neighbours Sporting Gijón saw off Rayo Vallecano 2-0, who are just four points behind Los Rojiblancos.
The unaccounted for side are European Champions Real Madrid. Carlo Ancelotti rotated his side, but still left more than €350m of talent on the pitch against fourth-tier Cacereño. Only a magical, jink, jive and fade away from the ball – leaving it in the far corner – separated the two sides. A move from Rodrygo Goes that Lionel Messi might have been fairly pleased with.
“It was impossible to play,” complained Ancelotti after the match. “You couldn’t play short passes, so we played longer balls and I think we adapted well. For me, this isn’t football. It’s another sport and that’s nice because smaller teams can compete with the bigger teams. That’s nice for fans, but fans do also want to watch football.”
The pitch has an influence, but in the knowledge that Real Madrid will buy another 100 Jesús Vallejos, purely to start him against Cacereño and no-one else, before suggesting that more of their television money should be fed back into the Spanish football pyramid scheme for better pitches, it is a balancing factor he can live with.
What is notable is that this has become if not the norm, then certainly a frequent occurrence. Uncontested thrashings, with youth players strolling through defences are few and far between. In Real Madrid’s case, the one percent are still heavily favoured. Yet most are more or less equal under the eyes of La Copa de la Democracia. Those who arrive at their uncomfortable setting unable to match the desire and effort of their opponents face an unpleasant time.
As Saudi Arabia demonstrated against the World Champions Argentina, it takes just a few minutes of lost concentration to move a game out of reach, even for quality teams. The ‘minnows’ are well-coached, intelligent and possess a higher base level of technique than in days past. Ceuta will play up the pitch from edge of their own box in the final ten minutes. Cacereño can press high and out-shoot the European Champions. Ancelotti was right about one thing – the smaller teams can compete with the bigger ones.