Real Madrid Kicked Out of Copa del Rey

Could this be the beginning of the end for Rafa Benitez, losing to Barca in a shambolic way, placed third on the table, rumours of unrest in the dress room now Real Madrid have been disqualified from the Copa del Rey after fielding an ineligible player in their win over Cadiz.

Denis Cheryshev, who scored the opening goal of the game, was due to serve a ban having picked up three yellow cards in last term's competition instead Madrid included him in the starting eleven. It was the Andalusian side officially that complained about the Russian international's involvement, now Rafa Benitez's side have been kicked out of the competition.

Club president Florentino Perez had earlier claimed he would go to court in an attempt to stop any disqualification. Perez insists neither the club nor the player were notified about the suspension, claiming that any sanction will be rendered ineffective. He said “We received nothing, no note, nothing from the Spanish FA. We'll take this to the appeals, then the arbitration court. If the player is not notified of his sanction, as article 41 states, then the sanction is not in effect. We have hope that we will win this battle and continue in the Copa del Rey”.

Benitez, later substituted Cheryshev as soon as the error was noticed, as he insisted after the game that the club had acted in good faith. Though we might say this is not all Benitez fault but this is certainly not the first time he has suffered elimination from the competition for non-footballing reasons. In 2001 as coach of Valencia, his side were disqualified for fielding too many non-EU players at the Round of 64 stage.