Real Madrid humbled by Leganes in King's Cup

Real Madrid suffered a humiliating 2-1 home defeat by Leganes Wednesday to exit the King's Cup at the quarter-final stage on away goal. A much-changed Real side, missing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, held a 1-0 advantage from the first leg but their troubled season hit a new low as they were outplayed by a team lying 13th in La Liga. Leganes started brightly and Claudio Beauvue sent a free kick against the post in the opening exchange.

Real Madrid 1-2 (2-2) Leganes FT:

Real Madrid are out of the Copa Del Rey after losing on the away goals rule to Leganes. pic.twitter.com/7tNMjHkmJ3 — Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) January 24, 2018

The visitor were deservedly level on aggregate after half an hour as a mishap between Achraf Hakimi and Nacho allowed Javier Eraso the space to produce a stunning finish from outside the box. Beauvue sent a volley into the side netting on the stroke of halftime as a shell-shocked Real were jeered off the pitch at the break. That appeared to bring about a reaction from the home side and Karim Benzema produced a neat finish from an acute angle immediately after the restart to put Zinedine Zidane’s men ahead on aggregate.

1 - Leganes are the first team in Copa del Rey history to knock out Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu after losing at home in the first leg. Correction. pic.twitter.com/tO51r3r4HK

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 24, 2018

Leganes centre-back Dimitris Siovas missed a gilt-edged chance as he headed back across the six-yard box with the goal gaping, but moments later Gabriel Pires made no mistake as he thumped home a header to put Leganes through on away goals. They joined Valencia, who defeated last season’s finalists Alaves on penalties earlier Wednesday, and Sevilla, who knocked out Atletico Madrid Tuesday, in the draw for the last four. League leader Barcelona host Espanyol Thursday, trailing 1-0 from the first leg in the last quarter-final.

Real Madrid's season hits a shocking new low https://t.co/cBvoubipEu pic.twitter.com/yTL0K14Q6a

— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) January 24, 2018

RESULTS Alaves 2 (El Haddadi 73, Sobrino 86) Valencia 1 (Mina 77) 3-3 on aggregate; Valencia win 3-2 on penalties Real Madrid 1 (Benzema 47) Leganes 2 (Eraso 31, Pires 55) 2-2 on aggregate; Leganes win on away goals   THURSDAY'S MATCH Barcelona v Espanyol