By Vivem Soriano
Eagle News Service
Real Madrid’s disastrous season continued after unheralded side Leganes sent them crashing out of the Copa del Rey with a 2-2 aggregate win on away goals.
This was after a shock 2-1 away win at the Bernabeu in the 2nd leg of their quarterfinal matchup.
Leganes lost the 1st leg of the quarterfinals at their home pitch, 1-0, but came out firing on the 2nd leg when Javier Eraso fired a rocket from 25 yards to give the visitors the lead at the 31st minute.
French striker Karim Benzema leveled the game for the Spanish giants at the 47th minute.
It seemed that Spanish giant Real Madrid was on their way to the Copa del Rey semis, but Gabriel Pires answered with a stunning goal at the 55th minute mark as Leganes managed to hold on to a 2-2 aggregate win due to their precious away goals.
Madrid was playing without stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale but still had much more firepower and quality in their squad compared to Leganes.
Pundits and experts consider the Copa del Rey as Madrid’s best chance of winning a trophy this season.
La Liga is already a foregone conclusion as they are 19 points behind league leaders and bitter rivals Barcelona.
Madrid is still competing in the Champions’ League but their form this season have many thinking they will not be able to defend their European crown.
Even an appearance in Europe next season is still up in the air as they are only a point with a game in hand ahead of Villareal for the fourth and final European spot.