From the World Cup to the King’s Cup
The World Cup is barely over. The millions in Buenos Aires are certainly still partying. But the unstoppable force that is the domestic football calendar has thrust its way back into orbit, and there wasn’t a bisht in sight.
The second round of the Copa del Rey began on Tuesday night with six LaLiga clubs in action, all hoping to avoid the dreaded shock cup upset, even allowing for the understandable rustiness after a month without competitive action.
From the glimmering pazazz of the Lusail Stadium in Qatar to the Estadio Municipal de Arroyo de la Luz, football has the incomparable ability to engage and entertain at almost any level or scale.
For Getafe, defeat would not have been all that surprising, given their struggles to get past CD San Roque de Lepe in Round 1. Quique Sánchez Flores knows he is under pressure after some discontent was vocalised before the break. Perhaps that is why he opted to select first-choice goalkeeper David Soria in place of Kiko Casilla, who made errors in the aforementioned last round. Nemanja Maksimović played some part in all three of Serbia’s World Cup matches, but he remained on the bench on Tuesday night. Los Azulones made much lighter work of CD Diocesano, with Moroccan Munir bagging a brace.
Elsewhere, Elche won a football match. So rare has it been this season that it is noteworthy in itself. The happiest will surely have been Carlos Clerc.
Pablo Machín will have enjoyed the three goals and the clean sheet, knowing that they need to make up ground in LaLiga quickly, already eight points adrift of safety. Pere Milla opened the scoring before late goals from Ezequiel Ponce and Tete Morente made the result safe. Their next task is a trip to Madrid to face Atleti, who will have numerous players recovering from either heartbreak or hangovers.
Things were much tighter in the Basque Country. In Irún, Real Unión proved their win over Cádiz in Round 1 was no fluke and made Mallorca work for their slender 1-0 victory, the solitary goal coming courtesy of Dani Rodríguez. About 150km west, Athletic had a very local derby against Sestao River, once home to Ernesto Valverde. In this one Raúl García scored the only goal. Athletic played a full-strength team, with Nico Williams back and Yeray Álvarez alongside Dani Vivián in defence. They are a formidable pairing, conceding only once when starting together this season.
The one shock came in a game not featuring LaLiga sides. Third-tier Intercity eliminated Mirandés, the side who reached the semi-finals in 2020 under the tutelage of Andoni Iraola. Cartagena needed penalties to get past Alcorcón, while it took 80 minutes for Espanyol to break the deadlock against Atlético Paso of La Palma.
The closest we came to a shock was in Guijuelo. A strong Villarreal fell behind in the 14th minute and it required a Gerard Moreno penalty to level proceedings. That’s how it remained at the final whistle, and only an extra time winner from substitute Arnaut Danjuma prevented a potential embarrassment for Quique Setién’s side against the fourth-tier side.
On Wednesday, there are 12 more ties to look forward to, including five featuring LaLiga sides, plus Segunda high-flyers Eibar and Alavés. Real Sociedad and Sevilla are in action, but Isco will not be, as he has reportedly reached an agreement with the club to end their relationship, just months after arriving. That particular development reminds us all that the January transfer window is upon us, to be rejoiced or bemoaned depending on your viewpoint. Either way, club football is already back, taking its unrelenting centre stage once more.