Real Madrid fight back to beat Villarreal

Real Madrid rallies to defeat Villarreal and move on to the next round of the Copa del Rey.In the Copa del Rey round of 16, Real Madrid overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat Villarreal 3-2 on Thursday. This was made possible by a standout second-half effort by replacement Dani Ceballos. The 26-year-old midfielder assisted on Madrid's first goal, set up their second goal, and scored the game-winning goal for the visitors, who appeared to be headed for elimination when they trailed 2-0 at the break. Carlo Ancelotti, manager of Madrid, admitted: "I was irritated, really irritated. They quickly grabbed the lead, we made mistakes, they played the ball out nicely from the back, and we lacked aggression in the battles. I instructed the group to get up.  The first half wasn't good, and we can't continue to play like way in the second. However, theresponse was amazing. Never give up when you wear this badge. The problem is that we can't wait to get close to the bottom before acting. With a beautiful play by Etienne Capoue in the fourth minute, who volleyed into the far post, Villarreal immediately took the lead. They controlled the first half and increased their advantage in the 41st minute when Gerard Moreno spotted Samuel Chukwueze slipping past two players.

Moreno then sent the Nigerian winger a beautiful ball, and Chukwueze fired his strike into the upper left corner.In the 56th minute, Ceballos came off the bench and was essential to each of Real Madrid's goals. He made an excellent through pass to Vinicius Jr., who scored from close range one minute after entering the game. Twelve minutes later, he crossed for Karim Benzema, whose thunderous header was saved by Filip Jorgensen, resulting in a goal from the rebound by Eder Militao. Ceballos gave Real Madrid the victory with a beautiful low strike from inside the area in the 86th minute. Real Madrid needed a victory to boost their morale as they sought to win the Spanish Super Cup for the first time since 2014 following their 2-1 LaLiga loss to Villarreal two weeks ago and their 3-1 loss to Barcelona last Sunday.