(Football news) Real Madrid have qualified for the Copa del Rey quarter finals by beating Elche but they did it the hard way. Carlo Ancelotti benched Luka Modric, Casemiro, Ferland Mendy while Karim Benzema and Thibaut Courtois didn't travel with the team. 

The 90 minutes went goalless as Real Madrid had bulks of possession. Despite dominating the ball, it was Elche who had the better clear cut chances. All of them fell to striker Guido Carrillo who couldn't find the back of the net. The game went to extra time and the first big action of the game came in the 102nd minute when Marcelo prevented Tete Morente from going 1 on 1 with the goalkeeper by bringing him down. Despite pleading innocence the Brazilian was sent off. To make matters worse the resulting free kick from Gonzalo Verdu was blocked by the wall before Verdu's 2nd attempt deflected into the goal. 

10-man Real Madrid didn't give up and their substitutes took control of the game. Dani Ceballos set up Isco to score the equalizer 5 minutes after conceding. In the 115th minute Eden Hazard scored the winner after pouncing on David Alaba's through ball. In the last minute Elche looked to have equalized Fidel Chaves but the referee ruled the goal out for a foul in the build up. Real Madrid won the game by 2 goals to 1 and booked their place in the quarter finals but they did have to work very hard for it. 

Elche defended very deep and played on the counter to trouble Real Madrid. In the end Madrid's quality substitutes proved to be too good for Elche's tired legs despite the man advantage. Real Madrid bought on Luka Modric, Casemiro, Isco, Dani Ceballos, Eden Hazard and Ferland Mendy. Ancelotti didn't use Gareth Bale while Benzema wasn't even in the squad which is a big positive for Madrid. They will need their depth to get through the coming fixture constraint as they are still fighting for all 3 trophies after winning the Super Cup. Their next game is also against Elche but this time in the La Liga.

Also read: Atletico Madrid crash out of the CDR after being outclassed by Real Sociedad