After losing against Villareal on December 13, Real Madrid has fallen further behind their rivals Barcelona and Athletic Madrid in the Spanish League and to make matters even worse, the team of Rafael Benitez has now been knocked out from the Kings Cup after having fielded a player who was ineligible to play.
Real Madrid faced off with Cadiz in their first leg match of the last 32 remaining teams in the Kings Cup and during this match, Denis Cheryshev was included in the team, the problem with this is that Denis was not eligible to play and now Real Madrid as consequence have been removed from the Spanish competition as punishment.
When this sanction was made, Real Madrid attempted to appeal it in order to stay competing in the Kings Cup but the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) rejected their appeal.
The Russian winger Denis Cheryshev was not eligible to play in this match after having picked up his 3rd yellow card in the semi-finals of last season’s competition when he was out on loan with Villareal.
It’s rumored that Real Madrid will attempt to appeal once again and try to find a way to continue performing in the Kings Cup but if this is the final decision of the Royal Spanish Football Federation and Real Madrid does indeed get removed from the competition, it will be a huge loss not only for Rafael Benitez but the club in itself.
Rafael Benitez and his players are struggling trying to keep up with the table toppers Barcelona and have even allowed Athletic Madrid to snatch a spot above them in the Spanish League. If Real Madrid did not manage to win La Liga in this season, then winning the Kings Cup would save Benitez from going through a totally disappointing first season as the coach of Real Madrid but now that they are on the verge of being removed from the Kings Cup, things aren’t looking good for the Spanish side.
The Champions League is the only other option that Benitez and Real Madrid have to save this season if they are unable to secure the La Liga title but becoming triumphant in this European competition is extremely hard especially taking into consideration all the top clubs that are also aiming to win it including: Bayern Munich and Barcelona.