Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 589 The Good-natured Pellegrini
After defeating Sevilla, the team finally got a day off.

However, after entering December, the league finally became more intensive, which brought a sense of familiarity to Shan Yongzhuo, who was used to the pace of the Premier League.

After another day of training, the round of 16 match of the Spanish King's Cup arrived in the blink of an eye.

The Copa del Rey is a long-established cup competition in Spain, with a history of over a hundred years.

The origin of this cup competition can be traced back to 1902 when former Real Madrid president Carlos Pedros proposed holding a football tournament to celebrate the coronation of King Alfonso XIII of Spain.

The King's Cup has been named after the king from the very beginning.

Like the FA Cup, this competition is considered a cup competition to support smaller clubs, mixing teams from different levels of competition in Spain for knockout matches.

Teams in the second and third divisions will have the opportunity to compete against teams in the first division through qualifying rounds, and may even eliminate them. This will greatly promote the development of local football and the operation of small clubs. Many third division teams can usually earn enough to cover their annual expenses through a single home game against a first division team in the Copa del Rey.

Although the competition was reformed in the 05-06 season, with lower-league teams only facing top-tier teams in the round of 16, which reduced the possibility of upsets, the Copa del Rey remains the most important competition of the year for most lower-league teams, second only to the league.

Going further in the Copa del Rey means more revenue this year.

Granada's opponent is Alcorcón, a team in the Spanish Second Division.

The Copa del Rey Round of 16 is a two-legged knockout match, with Granada playing the first leg away from home.

Perhaps the team's excellent performance has made Pellegrini seem a little complacent.

Therefore, Pellegrini did not bring many key players to this match, and basically sent a reserve team to the small town of Alcorcón, showing no intention of taking the opponent seriously.

The only key player who traveled with the team to the away game was Shan Yongzhuo.

Despite looking down on his opponent, Pellegrini still included Shan Yongzhuo in the squad at the last minute, just to be on the safe side.

Alcorcón is a very young team. It was originally a semi-professional team organized by local small vendors. The players all had other jobs besides playing football, and they just often got together to play.

This resulted in the team only being able to participate in the Spanish fourth division and regional leagues for the first thirty years.

However, after entering the 21st century, Alcorcón, who had been a professional for quite some time, began to show strong potential as a dark horse, thanks to his accumulated experience.

In the 2001-2002 season, they made their debut in the Spanish Third Division.

The 2009-2010 season was a breakout year for Alcorcón. They not only topped the Spanish Third Division to be promoted to the Spanish Second Division, but also pulled off a huge upset by defeating Real Madrid 4-1 away in the Copa del Rey Round of 16.

Although they were immediately eliminated by Racing Santander in the next round, this match made Alcorcón famous and eliminating Real Madrid earned them a lot of money.

Unfortunately, they have not been able to get promoted to La Liga in recent years, and have been stuck in the Segunda División, where they are only ranked in the lower half of the table.

Pellegrini and the Granada team clearly weren't too concerned about such an opponent.

On the day of the match, the Santo Domingo Stadium, Alcorcón's home ground with a capacity of just over 3000, was packed to capacity.

It wasn't just because they were playing against a La Liga team in the Copa del Rey, but also because their opponent had a world-class star like Shan Yongzhuo.

This is a rare event, like celebrating the New Year, for fans in this small town.

The team is going to face the team of the world's number one star, which is a great honor for the fans in these small towns. They will get to see the world's number one star perform.

However, they were quickly disappointed, as Shan Yongzhuo only appeared on the substitute list. The fans at the stadium were somewhat disappointed, but they still offered encouragement and support to the team.

With the support of the fans at the scene, Alcorcón surprisingly displayed amazing fighting spirit.

Granada fielded mostly substitutes and last season's starters, but they still managed to dominate the game and suppress Alcorcón.

After all, many of the key players from last season have made appearances, such as Flores, J. Romero, Siqueira, and Torger. Although they are not well-known, they are still a La Liga team.

However, despite this, it was Alcorcón, playing at home, who scored the first goal.

In the 9th minute, Alcorcón took advantage of a corner kick opportunity, winning a header in the penalty area and opening the scoring for Granada.

"1-0, Alcorcón takes the lead at home!"

This goal thrilled the Alcorcón fans at home, who were eager to defeat their La Liga opponents, especially the team that had defeated Shan Yongzhuo – that would be a tremendous honor.

After all, even teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid have lost to Granada this season.

If Alcorcón can do that, they will become famous.

However, it's still too difficult to beat a La Liga team with just one goal.

Granada actually played quite well, especially Flores.

Flores, who has been relegated to the bench this season, understands that his performance is not as good as Shan Yongzhuo and Harry Kane, but he is not willing to just remain a substitute. The Copa del Rey is a rare opportunity for him to play and perform.

He frequently attacked the opponent in the attacking third and created many good opportunities.

In the 39th minute of the match, Flores received a pass from Torger in front of the goal and scored with a shot, helping his team equalize the score.

1:1.

The first half ended in a draw.

Alcorcón was able to accept the result, but Pellegrini was clearly not satisfied.

Although Alcorcón is also a Segunda División team, it cannot be considered a strong team. To play like this against an average Segunda División team is clearly not up to par.

Pellegrini raised several issues in the front, midfield, and back lines, and emphasized the defense. Allowing Alcorcón to score a goal at the start of the game was hardly a good performance.

However, Pellegrini did not blame the players.

After all, that's just his personality; you could say he's a nice guy.

In addition, his long experience coaching smaller clubs has made him less accustomed to losing his temper with players, and he prefers to solve problems through communication and exchange.

Of course, Pellegrini is also adept at using this method to motivate players and thus take control of the locker room.

It does have a bit of Ancelotti's style.

(End of this chapter)