Real Madrid had to dig deep to overcome Spanish third-division side Talavera in a dramatic Copa del Rey clash, eventually securing a 3–2 victory thanks to a decisive brace from Kylian Mbappé. The hard-earned win sends Xabi Alonso’s side into the last 16 of the competition.
Mbappé Leads Madrid Through Testing Cup Tie
Los Blancos rotated heavily from their previous outing, with Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo, Jude Bellingham, and Aurélien Tchouaméni starting on the bench. Thibaut Courtois was left out entirely, allowing Andriy Lunin to start in goal. Despite the changes, Madrid dominated possession with 70 percent of the ball and registered 22 attempts, 10 of which were on target. Talavera, meanwhile, managed four shots on target from 10 efforts.
Real Madrid opened the scoring in the 41st minute when Mbappé calmly converted a penalty following a handball inside the box. Deep into first-half stoppage time, the visitors doubled their lead as Mbappé’s effort forced defender Manuel Ferrando into an unfortunate own goal.
Talavera Fight Back Before Late Drama
The underdogs refused to give up and pulled one back in the 80th minute through Nahuel Arroyo Majora, who headed home from a corner to reignite hope. That hope was briefly crushed when Mbappé struck again eight minutes later, firing a powerful long-range effort to make it 3–1 — his 28th goal in all competitions this season.
“𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔,” 𝑴𝒃𝒂𝒑𝒑é 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉. “𝑪𝒖𝒑 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔.”
Talavera added late tension when Gonzalo de Renzo scored in the first minute of added time, but Real Madrid held on through a nervy finish to seal progression.
Xabi Alonso later admitted the challenge was tougher than expected, saying, “These matches remind you that nothing is guaranteed in football.”
Real Madrid now advance to the Copa del Rey last 16 and will quickly turn their attention to La Liga, where they face Sevilla next Saturday.
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