COPA FIASCO: Real Madrid anger & farce as Pique breaks 'pact'
COMMENT: Real Madrid are out of the Copa del Rey and Barcelona have eased through to the next round, but that has not stopped the two Spanish giants from hogging the headlines in the competition as the second legs of the of the Round of 32 were played this week.
Los Merengues' exit was far from a traditional one, however, as they were kicked out of the competition thanks to fielding an ineligible Denis Cheryshev in their tie against Cádiz last month.
The 24-year-old midfielder had received three yellow cards last season whilst at Villarreal and was banned for the first cup game this term, but nobody at Madrid appeared to know and he was named in their squad, 24 hours before kick-off, and then in the starting XI.
While the hierarchy at the Santiago Bernabéu went into defensive mode and appealed their case to be kept in the cup, Barça's Gerard Piqué has done his best to ensure that Madrid's mistake would not be forgotten.
The Blaugrana defender's set of smiling emojis to laugh at Madrid's blunder on his Twitter account have led to a social media spat with Álvaro Arbeloa and almost every Madrid player being asked for their thoughts on his response by an insatiable media.
Cristiano Ronaldo, a friend and former Manchester United team-mate of Piqué, stated he would not "waste time" responding, but some Madrid players were not happy.
Arbeloa stated Piqué was a friend, but a friend that was "obsessed with Real Madrid" and Piqué's response only added fuel to the fire.
"He is not a friend of mine, he is an acquaintance," the Barça star told reporters, but with acquaintance in Spanish being 'conocido' his pause to say "cono-cido" was interpreted as labelling Arbeloa as a 'training' cone, or worse a strong swear word.
Sergio Ramos was not pleased and called upon Piqué to "show respect" and highlighted the pact put in place by Carles Puyol, Xavi and Iker Casillas between Barça and Madrid players to create harmony in the Spanish national team camp some years ago.
Various comments in public and on Twitter regarding Madrid allied with his political views on Catalunya have already led to Piqué being whistled and jeered when appearing for Spain and when Barça play away from Camp Nou.
But while many joined Piqué in joking about Los Merengues' cup exit, there were just as many pointing fingers and looking for someone to blame for the slip that allowed Cheryshev to play.
The Russian midfielder not only started the first leg of the Copa del Rey Round of 32 away at Cádiz, but also scored their first goal and it was only as the home supporters sang that he was not allowed to play and reports from within the camp that the penny finally dropped.
Cheryshev was taken off just after half-time, almost to highlight the fact that Madrid now knew of their error, but it was too little, too late as Cádiz did what they had to and reported their illustrious opponents to the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
A media frenzy began, but blame has never been apportioned to anyone - from club delegate Chendo and the player himself to Villarreal and the RFEF.
Club president, Florentino Pérez, questioned the decision and was quickly proven his reasoning was off before trying to claim that his team would be missed.
“I'm not saying this because of selfishness or rooting for Real Madrid, it's for the competition's sake. The Copa del Rey needs this team," he stated.
Madrid appealed and put up a show of defiance, even selling tickets to the second leg against Cádiz, but with Osasuna suffering a similar fate for playing the suspended Unai García against Mirandés in September, earning far less coverage, the precedent had been set.
It was a harsh lesson and embarrassing lesson for the Spanish giants, but for the media and Piqué, it was a saga that proved to be almost more entertaining than some of the games at this stage of the cup themselves.