Real Madrid banished the ghosts of last season’s embarrassing Copa del Rey exit by running riot against Cultural Deportiva Leonesa.
Los Blancos fell at the first hurdle for fielding the suspended Denis Cheryshev, but Alvaro Morata and Marco Asensio both netted twice this time around to cruise into the next round.
The hosts lasted just over five minutes before falling behind when former West Brom defender Gianni Zuiverloon turned into his own net from Toni Kroos’s free-kick before Asensio’s trusty left foot slotted home a second before the break.
There was no let up from Zinedine Zidane’s men after half-time with three goals in nine minutes as Morata made his case for a more regular starting berth either side of a stunning long-range strike from Asensio.
However, goal of the night belonged to centre-back Nacho, who belted home a volley at shoulder height into the top corner much to the amazement of his own teammates.
Leonesa pulled one late on, but Mariano Diaz Mejia restored Real’s six-goal cushion at the death.
Beating the European champions was always a highly unrealistic challenge for Leonesa, but they could be facing Spain’s elite more often in the future thanks to the backing of Qatar’s Aspire Academy.
The Aspire Academy took control of the cash-strapped club in 2015 and whilst the focus is very much on developing young players, with some in the youth ranks even coming from Qatar and African countries tied to the Aspire Football Dreams project, Leonesa look well on course for promotion.
This was their first defeat of the season after a run of eight wins and two draws to start the season and top their group of the regional third tier Segunda Division B.
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