Kylian Mbappe Saves Real Madrid from Three Division Club in the Copa del Rey

JAKARTA - Forward Kylian Mbappe scored a brace that saved Real Madrid from the threat of third division club CF Talavera de la Reina in the Copa del Rey 32-team round. In the duel at Talavera's home at El Prado Stadium, Thursday, December 18, 2025 WIB, Madrid won narrowly 3-2 and advanced to the 16th round.

Talavera has never played in the highest tier of Spain's LaLiga. The team, based in the city of Talavera, 100 km from Madrid, the capital of Spain, is more often found in the lower divisions.

Last season, Talavera still played in the fourth division, Primera RFEF-Group 2 or Segunda Federacion or Segunda B. They managed to promote and now compete in Primera RFEF-Group 1 or the third tier.

Even though they only play in the lower division, Talavera was able to force Madrid to work hard. In that match, coach Xabi Alonso did not field the best squad.

Alonso still kept Mbappe as a starter and another key player, Arda Guler. So did Dean Huijsen, who returned to play after recovering from injury.

Only Mbappe is no longer a centre forward. He operates on the left wing and his position is taken over by young striker Gonzalo Garcia.

Young player Endrick also returned to be the first choice, which made Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo not appear in the match.

In the match, Madrid, who have won the Copa del Rey 20 times, had to work hard to dismantle Talavera's defense. Alonso's team finally broke the deadlock, it was from the penalty spot before the first half ended.

Madrid controversially got a penalty after striker Marcos Moreno was judged to have touched the ball in the penalty box. Moreno's arm accidentally hit the ball as he was about to head the ball. The referee pointed to the white spot and Mbappe finished the penalty in the 42nd minute.

The 1-0 advantage made Madrid play more aggressively. They also didn't take long to add a goal. This time, the blunder of defender Manu Farrando who wanted to cut the ball from Mbappe. But the ball from Farrando actually slid into his own goal.

Farrando's own goal in the 45th minute +1 changed the score to 2-0 for Madrid. The score remained until the first half ended.

Entering the second half, Madrid slightly slowed down the tempo of the game. This situation was used by Talavera to play more openly. However, the home team's attack did not bear fruit.

When the match entered the final minutes, Talavera was able to break the deadlock. Farrando paid for his mistake by releasing a cross that was greeted by Nahuel Arroyo. He then fired a shot that defeated goalkeeper Andriy Lunin in the 80th minute.

But Madrid was unstoppable. Mbappe brought Madrid back to the distance by scoring a brace in the 88th minute. The score changed to 3-1.

The goal saved Los Merengues. The reason is, Talavera can still add a goal to narrow the gap when Gonzalo Di Renzo managed to take advantage of the rebound ball after his first kick hit the goalpost in injury time.

Only Di Renzo's goal was too late because Talavera didn't have much time left to equalize. Not long after the final whistle blew and the score was 3-2 for Madrid.