MADRID - Real Madrid suffered an astonishing 4-0 defeat
at third-tier side Alcorcon in the King's Cup on Tuesday,
humiliated in the first leg by a club with a budget more than 400
times smaller than the La Liga giants.
Real were missing their two most expensive signings, Cristiano
Ronaldo and Kaka, as well as several other key players, but were
undone by a club with a 1.1 million euro annual budget compared to
Real's 420 million.
It was the third defeat in five matches for Manuel Pellegrini's
side and piled more pressure on the Chilean coach after Saturday's
0-0 draw at Sporting Gijon and last week's 3-2 home defeat to AC
Milan in the Champions League.
"It's an embarrassment, I have no explanation," Pellegrini said
at a news conference after the last-32 clash.
"When you lose like that there is not much to say. Sometimes in
the Cup you think that your weaker opponent is easily beaten and
until you lose you don't take them seriously."
Pressed about his future, he added: "I have never thought about,
I am not thinking about, and I will not think about,
resigning."
A fired-up Alcorcon, who play in the same league as Real's youth
team Castilla, laid siege to the visitors' goal in the frantic
early stages of the last-32 clash, forcing Jerzy Dudek into a
couple of smart saves with shots from distance.
Former Real youth player Borja Gomez gave Alcorcon a shock lead
in the 16th minute when he cut in from the right and curled a
precise shot into the bottom left corner.
Spain defender Alvaro Arbeloa inexplicably clipped the ball into
his own net six minutes later before Fernando Bejar headed against
Dudek's left post.
Ernesto Gomez made it three five minutes before the break,
sidefooting home Diego Cascon's cross from the right, and Borja
pounced on a loose ball to make it four in the 52nd minute.
Pellegrini replaced Raul with Ruud van Nistelrooy with just
under 20 minutes left as Real searched desperately for a goal.
Alcorcon keeper Juanma palmed the Dutchman's shot on to a post
with four minutes remaining but Real were unable to find a goal
ahead of the second leg at the Bernabeu in two weeks.
