Despite winning on the night from a late Rafael Van der Vaart goal in the 81st minute, Alcorcon beat los merengues on aggregate and go through. For the second year in a row Real Madrid are beaten by a much lesser team in the Copa del Rey and the humiliation of that defeat carried an ominous tone heard from the depths of the Santiago Bernabeu. "Pellegrini, dimite" or Pellegrini, quit.

Pellegrini, must go. It's simple, reactionary stupidity. A team isn't built in a day even if you can afford to buy one in a day. They haven't had enough time to settle themselves and they barely know how to play with each other. Their best player is on an injury walkabout that started with a minor sprain and has turned career threatening. It is no coincidence that players aren't performing.

This team is fractured, the old guard is hesitant to give its all to a new system, and the new guard is still trying to find its place in the hierarchy. Guti is being frozen out, Raul has become a secondary option, and the balance of power is shifting, but they have powerful friends in the Spanish media making it very difficult for management.

Instead of measuring their tone, circling their wagons and supporting their squad, the Bernabeu "faithful" are doing what they always do. They hiss and they whistle and they wave their white flags. Now, I have many friends who are Madridistas, it as an honorable club with a storied background, but it is this idiotic nonsense that keeps me from feeling all that sorry for them. Sometimes, you don't get the team you wish for, you get the team you deserve.