Third-tier Cornella, whose part-timers include a dentist and a school teacher, are determined to have fun when they run out at Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium for Tuesday's King's Cup last 32, second leg.
The Barcelona-based club, whose tiny arena holds around 1 500 fans compared with the Bernabeu's capacity of more than 80 000, trail 4-1 from the first leg and know it would take nothing short of a miracle to turn the tie around.
The match pits the world's richest club by income, with annual revenues of more than 600 million euros ($748 million), against a club with a budget of around 1 million euros a season who were promoted to Spain's regional Segunda B for the first time at the end of last term.
"Our goal is to enjoy ourselves," striker Oscar Munoz, who scored Cornella's goal in the first leg, told reporters as the club's party left by coach for the Spanish capital on Monday.
According to Spanish media, the Cornella players have been promised a bonus of around 1 400 euros if they achieve the feat of eliminating the King's Cup holders, less than Real forward Cristiano Ronaldo earns in a single hour.
Ronaldo and other regulars including Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo and Pepe will be rested for Tuesday's game, coach Carlo Ancelotti said, as Real seek to extend the club record for consecutive victories of 16 they set on Saturday by beating Malaga 2-1 in La Liga.
Forward Jese Rodriguez will see his first action since sustaining a serious knee injury in a Champions League game in March, Ancelotti told a news conference.
Real and Cornella's first leg was brought forward because of the European champions' participation in the Club World Cup this month.
Due to the disruption to the La Liga calendar caused by the tournament in Morocco, Sevilla also had their first leg brought forward and they have a 6-1 lead over second-division Sabadell ahead of Wednesday's return.
Real are on course to meet city rivals Atletico Madrid in the last 16, with Barcelona, who they beat in last season's final, the probable opponents in the last eight.
Barca and Atletico play their first legs at third-tier Huesca and Hospitalet respectively on Wednesday.
No comments:
Post a Comment
drop your comment about your football hero, their fashion style, like who dresses most, who drink most ,who hang out most like going to club , who plays with woman most and so on