Casillas
The early minutes of play were a bit of an agony for Real Madrid. The Whites took 30 minutes to adapt to the field (a lot smaller than usual). They were not quite making its play flow, as not many approaches from the flanks were actually seen. But then, Casillas was there to save his team all through these 25 agonic minutes when the locals got very close as many as four occasions (Óscar Pérez -7’-, Cuevas -11’-, Kepa -12’- and Romero -22’-) Bravo for the Goalie
First approach and target
The coach ordered Solari to move to the midfield to help out Borja and Cambiasso in an attempt to get the ball ahead. Number '14' began to move to the left. The tactics worked out fine, as a charge by active Juanfran was finished off by Guti (36').
Local target
The white drive was back on to unbalance the encounter right at the very first group action of the visiting side. The target seemed to numb Eibar players. The ball was now at the Whites' feet with some more patient play. However, a defensive slip (everybody failed to clear the ball) ended up in a corner kick. Then Cuevas made the local fans hit the roof with his header into the net. It was right before the break, a fair draw as halftime result.
Tight encounter
The coaches made no changes to face the second half. Real Madrid put its lines closer together to avoid any gap. Mejía and Rubén succeeded in their clearing all the balls out of the white area, but no Madrid player managed to take advantage of the gaps the locals were leaving in their attacks. It was hard work because the home side was constantly fighting. The pressure from both sides made the distances very short.
The home coach sent Kortina on, a heavy-duty forward to drill the opposing area. Queiroz replaced Juanfran for Nuñez, as the former seemed not so active in the second half. The Whites though were still lacking the necessary drive while Portillo was not receiving many passes. Newcomer Kortina started off a counterattack, but Olalla got in his way when the striker was aiming at Casillas' goal. The keeper also had to step in to make a save in the 78th minute when Arregi shot at the target. Correidora came up with a powerful right-footed shot that hit the bar (81').
Time was running out for Madrid to settled a good result. They starved of the ball and suffered for it. Queiroz sent Jordi and Raúl Bravo on to replace Cambiasso and Borja in an attempt to break down the local drive. The Whites failed to hit Basauri's goal (no dangerous shot was fired in the second half). The tie on the road makes the round easier for Real Madrid.
1 - EIBAR: Basauri; Edu Roldán, Alaña, Kepa, Dani; Uriz (De la Cruz, 75’); S. Romero, Cuevas (Kortina, 60’), Óscar Pérez, Corredoira; Saizar (Arregi, 75’).
1 - REAL MADRID: Casillas; Olalla, Mejía, Rubén, Paredes; Juanfran (Núñez, 68’), Borja (Raúl Bravo, 86’), Cambiasso (Jordi, 81’), Solari; Guti and Portillo.
GOALS:
0-1 (36’): Juanfran gets into the area and his deathly pass lands at Guti, who nets the ball.
1-1 (45’): Cuevas, header, from a corner kick.
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