Real Madrid crash out of Copa Copa del Rey - Real Madrid 1-2 Leganes Leganes stun the Bernabeu and advance to semi-finals

Real Madrid crashed out of the Copa del Rey in stunning fashion with a 2-1 defeat to Leganes on Wednesday night at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid.

The visitors from the southern outskirts of Madrid earned passage to the cup semi-finals with a 2-2 win on aggregate, on the strength of away goals from Eraso and Gabriel, while Karim Benzema provided the lone score for Real on the day.

The defeat is the latest in a line of poor results from Real's "B" team, which excelled last season, but has suffered from abject performances in 2017-18, such as Wednesday night's outing. To be fair to Leganes though, Real still had plenty of European champions on the pitch, especially in the form of Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema, who each made their first starts of 2018.

The result will certainly reignite the criticism that manager Zinedine Zidane had been receiving prior to last weekend's hammering of Deportivo. More importantly for Los Blancos, there is now just one trophy -- the Champions League -- that can realistically be won this season.

With nothing to lose, Leganes came out strong and Beauvue nearly evened up the tie in the first five minutes with a right-footed free-kick that stung the post. Real were controlling most of the possession and Isco was showing off his array of tricks, but it was actually Leganes who were producing chances, and Gabriel should have done better on a header off a corner kick.

However, it was a Real error that would inject the drama, as a poor pass from Achraf and failed clearance by Nacho set the table for Eraso's opener. The Leganes midfielder pounced on the ball and launched a right-footed rocket that Real goalkeeper Kiko Casilla had no chance of stopping, and in the blink of an eye it was 1-0 to Leganes and 1-1 in the tie.

Real needed to react, but outside of an Isco ball to Benzema that was just out of the Frenchman's reach, there was nothing of note from the hosts in the first 45 minutes, and the Bernabeu showed its displeasure with a shower of whistles.

Whether it was the ire of the supporters or the words of Zidane in the dressing room, Real had the look of a different side at the start of the second stanza. Not two minutes had elapsed after the re-start when Benzema and Isco completed a one-two combination with the former going unmarked through the Leganes defence and lofting a shot over Champagne and into net for the 1-1 equaliser and 2-1 advantage in the tie.

Leganes took the punch and countered almost immediately. Less than 10 minutes later they were back in front and unlike the header he squandered in the first half, Gabriel made good on his second attempt by beating Theo and thumping in a header past Casilla for a 2-1 lead in both the match and the tie.

Zidane turned to his bench midway through the half, with Achraf and Marcos Llorente yielding their spots to Dani Carvajal and Luka Modric, respectively. Later on it was Isco leaving the pitch to the surprise of some, with Borja Mayoral getting the nod.

The infusion of the three added urgency to Real's play and Benzema had the decisive goal on his right boot but shot directly at Champagne. Moments later Ramos looked like he was going to take a page from his 2016-17 late-game heroics, but Champagne stood tall and saved the header.

In the end, Leganes stood firm and closed out the affair without any last-minute drama, adding more disappointment to Real's underwhelming season.

Los Blancos will look to pick up the pieces on Saturday at Valencia.

- Match facts:

1.- Real Madrid: Casilla; Achraf (Carvajal, min. 68), Nacho, Sergio Ramos, Theo; Kovacic, Llorente (Modric, min. 68), Isco (Mayoral, min. 77); Lucas, Benzema, Asensio.

2.- Leganes: Champagne; Tito, Bustinza, Siovas (Mantovani, min. 58), Diego Rico; Eraso, Brasanac; El Zhar (Naranjo, min. 81), Gabriel, Amrabat (Raul Garcia, min. 70); Beauvue.

Goals: 0-1, min. 31: Eraso; 1-1, min. 47: Benzema; 1-2, min. 55: Gabriel

Referee: Jesus Gil Manzano (Extremadura).

Yellow Cards: Tito (Min. 27) for Leganes, Champagne (Min. 75) for Leganes, Ramos (Min. 80) for Real Madrid

Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu

Attendance: 46.409