Fourteen internationals players were too much for Cultural
Last night's game in León brought back past memories of midweek Madrid games at the Bernabéu. The club used to play friendly games against second division sides or international club teams passing through Spain as a way of keeping other squad players match-fit. They used to be held on a Thursday evening as back in those days Sunday was the only day off with Saturday being a working day too. With Thursday being a half day, decent crowds turned up at the Bernabeu anxious to see in person those players on the cusp of the first team and cast their own verdict on their suitability to make the step up to the first team.
The games used to end up in one sided affairs, not too dissimilar to last night's cup game in Leon. The Real Madrid side of today have much better strength and depth than the side from those days and that is saying something. Zidane's starting eleven last night at the Reino de Leon stadium were all full international players with Mariano having played for the Dominican Republic. Players who play for their international side but struggle to get into the Madrid starting line-up as was the case with Kiko Casilla. Against this kind of opposition there was little that 2B side Cultural could do.
The game was a one sided affair with Madrid scoring goals over a consistent period of time during the match. Mariano too, got in on the act and took advantage of his time from the bench to get on target with a fine header. However, the goal of the night and maybe the season belonged to Nacho, who fired home a spectacular acrobatic scissor kick that the Cultural back line could do nothing about. The home side did manage to claim a late consolation goal which Benja scored and strangely didn't celebrate. Future statistics will show that he was on target against Madrid and that is something that he will always remember. The same applies to Nacho who will never forget his sensational strike against Cultutral.
