Two leading members of Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid squad sent messages of encouragement the way of Talavera star Jaime González on Wednesday evening.
This came after the latter cost his side dear in the Copa del Rey meeting between the two clubs.
Real Madrid are of course fresh off booking their spot in the next round of the Spanish domestic cup.
Their eventual passage to the competition’s Last-16, however, proved far from straightforward…
Late in a clash with the aforementioned Talavera, Los Blancos found themselves leading by just a solitary goal, in genuine danger of allowing their advantage to slip.
From here, Kylian Mbappé saved his teammates’ blushes for the latest occasion, netting the decisive goal in a five-goal thriller from distance.
The Frenchman’s effort, though, should have been comfortably kept out…
Talavera goalkeeper Jaime González got his angles and timing all wrong, in allowing what was a relatively tame strike to bobble in.
Left looking understandably downtrodden by as much, Jaime was then surprisingly sought out by not one, but two Real Madrid stars.
Speaking during a post-match interview with COPE, the shot-stopper explained:
“The 3rd goal? Mbappé came over and said: ‘What a shame that it had to happen like that’. Jude Bellingham also came over, hugged me, and said: ‘It’s okay, keep going’. It shows what kind of people they are.”
Conor Laird – GSFN