Rodrygo’s goal in the second half helped a largely rotated Real Madrid team defeat Cacereno in the Copa del Rey.
Carlo Ancelotti utilized Tuesday’s Copa del Rey match as an opportunity to give some minutes to his fringe players and rest some of his key stars because he has a difficult stretch of games coming up, including Villarreal at home and Athletic Club away both before and after the Supercopa de Espana.
There were no players of the caliber of Karim Benzema , Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Vini Jr., Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy, or David Alaba in Caceres. Only Marco Asensio and Dani Ceballos retained their starting positions from the LaLiga Santander victory against Real Valladolid a few days prior.
Thibaut Courtois was replaced in goal by Andriy Lunin, and Alvaro Odriozola had a rare start at left back. Alvaro and Sergio Arribas, two rookies, also saw action off the bench.
The hosts may have started to daydream after an hour without scoring, but when playing a squad of this caliber, one slip-up can be all it takes.
In the 69th minute, Rodrygo produced an excellent solo effort that brought life to the visitors’ otherwise lackluster performance. He danced through the defense before applying a cool finish.
Real Madrid advances to the next round over Cacereno, who performed admirably but found it difficult to pose an offensive danger.
