FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Sports

Barca's Gerard Pique Gleeful at Prospect of Real Madrid's Ouster from Copa del Rey for Starting Ineligible Player

Real Madrid may get disqualified and Girard Pique can barely contain himself.

— Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) December 2, 2015

Real Madrid beat Cadiz 3-1 today in a Copa del Rey match at Estadio Ramón de Carranza but they may have to forfeit the match and face expulsion from the tournament because manager Rafa Benitez inadvertently fielded a player who was ineligible due to suspension. In last year's tournament, Denis Cheryshev earned three yellow cards while on loan at Villareal, meaning he would be suspended for his next match in the tournament, regardless of whether it was for Villareal or Madrid or anybody.

Advertisement

The RFEF communique from March 6 confirming that Denis Cheryshev (Villarreal) has a 1 match #CopaDelRey sanction pic.twitter.com/zQrLVAIUB2
— AS English (@English_AS) December 2, 2015

Cheryshev is back with Real Madrid now, and as it turns out, that next match was today. No one seemed to remember he was suspended and Cheryshev was in the starting 11. Making things even more delicious? Cheryshev scored the opening goal for Real Madrid in the third minute.

That didn't take long.@jamesdrodriguez sets up @Cheryshev for opener as @realmadriden take lead. #CopadelRey https://t.co/lpSYcL4rfg
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) December 2, 2015

Someone in the Real Madrid locker room must have realized the mistake during halftime because Cheryshev was substituted out of the game 45 seconds into the second half. And up above, you can see Gerard Pique, from rival Barcelona, enjoying every bit of the continued Real Meltdown, just a few weeks after Barca de-pantsed them 4-0 in El Classico.

Cadiz has until 12:00 local time tomorrow to report the misstep and if they do, it does not look good for Benitez and Real Madrid. Earlier this year, CA Osasuna were disqualified from the tournament for fielding an ineligible player who also earned a suspension in last year's tournament.

Update: It looks like Cadiz will officially file a report against Real Madrid.

Cadiz confirm that they WILL make formal complaint, (ie request that RM are kicked out cup)
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) December 2, 2015