""[Mbappé] was decisive with his goals," Alonso said in his postmatch news conference. "Kylian always has that knack for scoring. The third goal was key, it was very important, and that's why we kept him on the field. "Mission accomplished, and on to the next one.""
""These things happen in the cup," Alonso said. "It happened to us, and I've seen it happen to other teams. "Even after going 1-3 up, we conceded the foul, the 2-3 [free kick], they pressed hard and they got back into the game.""
""The objective [against Talavera] was to progress. We've achieved that, and that's why I leave satisfied and happy," Alonso said on Wednesday. "What we've lacked is consistency, and a consistent performance throughout games, closing off the match a"
Xabi Alonso defended his decision to keep Kylian Mbappé on the field after Mbappé scored twice and created a third in Real Madrid's 3-2 Copa del Rey win at third-tier Talavera. Andriy Lunin produced a spectacular added-time save to prevent extra time. Mbappé's brace moved him to 58 goals in the calendar year, one behind Cristiano Ronaldo's 59, ahead of Madrid's final 2025 game against Sevilla. Jude Bellingham, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Rodrygo came on as late substitutes. Madrid also beat Alavés 2-1 earlier in the week but remained unconvincing, with consistency cited as a problem and executives reportedly discussing Alonso's future after a 2-0 home loss to Celta Vigo.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]