If any place has been haunting Real Madrid all these years, it is without a doubt the Madrigal! It is not remembered that any club resisted the Blancos for so long, because Villarreal came out of the duel with the Madrid giants with their heads held high for almost the sixth full year. After numerous draws and a victory that came less than two weeks ago, Villarreal and Real Madrid crossed paths again at the Madrigal, and this time Carlo Ancelotti’s team took what they came for – passage to the quarterfinals of Copa del Rey.Barca’s easy cruising through GibraltarEven tonight, just like in all the previous years, it was not easy for Real to win and really conquer Madrigal. Villarreal had a two-goal advantage for almost an hour, and then everything turned upside down. Thanks to the Brazilian connection of Vinicius Junior – Eder Militao, Real Madrid managed to equalize within 12 minutes, and then the forgotten Dani Ceballos secured the victory and qualifying thourgh, with his first goal after 935 days or more than two and a half years of waiting!Etienne Capoue hits a thunderbolt as he scores the first goal for Villarreal against Real Madrid.#WatfordFCpic.twitter.com/PGT7WmqkDV— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) January 19, 2023 At one time, perhaps the greatest talent of Spanish football in his generation, Dani Ceballos only occasionally knew how to shine in Real’s shirt as it was expected of him. Real didn’t give a lot of money in 2017, about 18,000,000 euros, but apparently the pressure of playing in the biggest club on the planet broke him, just like it was the case with numerous young and even more accomplished players throughout history. Today he scored perhaps the most important goal in Los Blancos jersey, the first after almost four years as a Real Madrid player.Before putting the ball behind young Filip Jorgensen tonight, Ceballos last found the back of the net on June 28, 2020, away to Sheffield United in the FA Cup while playing for Arsenal on loan. Ceballos has come a long way since then. He mostly watched the games from the reserve bench, he managed to injure his ankle, because of which he couldn’t play for almost half a year, and since he returned to Madrid, he gets his chances mostly by the spoonful and Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t trust him too much. Maybe this goal could lift him up and restore his former confidence, and maybe get a bigger role in this Real squad.
The teammates also understood how important this moment was for Ceballos, not only because it brought a certain victory in that moment, but also because of everything the 26-year-old Spaniard has been through in the past few years, which is why they celebrated the goal with him as that he scored a goal worthy of the tournament trophy, although the way Real looked and played tonight, it is truly a miracle that they reached the quarter-finals at all.GOOOOOOOOOOOL DO REAL MADRID⏰ 57’/2T⚽ Vinicius JrVillarreal 2×1 Real Madridpic.twitter.com/0iz1fyyB7z— VAR Tático (@vartatico) January 19, 2023 Ceballos has changed the game for Real Madrid, he is actually too disrespected by our fanbase. pic.twitter.com/KCZ1TWj2GG— WolfRMFC (@WolfRMFC) January 19, 2023 COPA DEL REYRound of 16WednesdayGijon – Valencia 0-4 (0-3)/Cavani 10, 39, Kluivert 21, Lino 64/Ath Bilbao – Espanyol 1-0 (1-0)/de Marcos 27/Betis – Osasuna 1-1 (0-0)/Carvalho 62 – Garcia 90+1/Osasuna qualifies on penaltiesLevante – Atl. Madrid 0-2 (0-0)/Morata 54, Llorente 90+1/ThursdayCeuta – Barcelona 0-5 (0-1)/Raphinha 41, Lewandowski 50, 90, Fati 70, Kessie 77/Villareal – Real Madrid 2-3 (2-0)/Capoue 4, Chukwueze 42 – Vinicius Jr 57, Militao 69, Ceballos 86/
