Real Madrid’s Five Worst Copa del Rey Defeats This Century—Ranked

The Copa del Rey remains Los Blancos’ most illusive trophy in recent years.

Vinicius Junior (left) and Kaká were part of the club’s worst Copa del Rey failures. | Jose Hernandez/Anadolu via Getty Images, Elisa Estrada/Real Madrid/Getty Images

For all their prowess in Europe, Real Madrid have been on the wrong side of historic upsets in the Copa del Rey since the turn of the century.

Spain’s oldest football competition has slowly become an afterthought for the 15-time Champions League winners. Despite hoisting 17 Copa del Rey titles throughout the 1900s, Real Madrid have only added three more to their trophy cabinet in the last 26 years.

Barcelona, in comparison, have topped the tournament six times in the last 11 seasons alone. To make matters worse for their Madrid-based rivals, Los Blancos have exited the competition at the hands of vastly inferior sides far too often.

Real Madrid are now on a run of just one Copa win in 12 seasons.

Barcelona have lifted the trophy six times in the same span, and are still in the hunt to make it seven. pic.twitter.com/QQAs77n4gy

— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) January 15, 2026

Despite the wealth of talent in and out of Valdebebas, as well as the many faces on the Bernabéu touchline, Real Madrid have found themselves splattered across Spanish newspapers for their shock loses in the Copa del Rey over the years, with their most recent blunder coming in the 2025–26 season.

Here, Sports Illustrated ranks the club’s worst Copa del Rey defeats this century.

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5. Real Zaragoza 6–1 Real Madrid (2006)

Real Madrid had conceded five goals before the hour-mark. | Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images

Real Madrid were utterly dismantled by Real Zaragoza in the first leg of the 2005–06 Copa del Rey semifinals. By the time the game reached the 35-minute mark, Diego Milito had already bagged a hat trick.

The Argentine went on to score a fourth, before a brace from Ewerthon saw Iker Casillas concede a stunning six goals on the night. The only consolation for Los Blancos came through Júlio Baptista.

The defeat was so bad that even the team’s 4–0 victory in the second leg was not enough to send them to the Copa del Rey final. The failure was one of the factors that led Florentino Pérez to resign in the ensuing weeks, ending his first stint as club president.

The only reason the lopsided loss comes in at number five on our list is because Real Zaragoza were at least a La Liga side.

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4. Albacete 3–2 Real Madrid (2026)

Álvaro Arbeola saw his debut end in humiliation. | Alvaro Medranda/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

The most recent entry making the cut is Real Madrid’s 3–2 defeat to Albacete in the 2025–26 Copa del Rey round of 16. The match kicked off the Álvaro Arbeloa era in perhaps the worst way possible.

With Xabi Alonso relieved of his duties just three days prior, Los Blancos had everything to prove at the Estadio Carlos Belmonte. Yet a squad largely of fringe players and Castilla hopefuls fell completely flat.

Despite coming from behind twice, the Spanish giants ultimately saw their Copa del Rey hopes die when Jefté Betancor fired home a 94th-minute winner.

Not only did Real Madrid lose, but they did so against a La Liga 2 side just one point above the relegation zone. Albacete also had never beaten the club prior to their 2026 triumph.

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3. Real Unión 3–2 Real Madrid (2008)

Real Madrid parted ways with Bernd Schuster less than one month after the Copa del Rey failure. | Friedemann Vogel/Bongarts/Getty Images

What’s worse than losing to a second tier side? You guessed it—losing to a team in Spain’s third division. Real Madrid suffered a 3–2 defeat to Real Unión in the first leg of the 2008–09 Copa del Rey round of 32.

Los Blancos conceded inside of two minutes, sending the crowd at Stadium Gal into a frenzy. The early goal set the tone for a chaotic first half that ended 2–1 in the hosts’ favor.

Real Madrid got themselves back into the game just eight minutes after the restart thanks to Javier Saviola, but Real Unión responded with one of their own and held out until the final whistle.

The return leg at the Bernabéu was much of the same for the Spanish giants; even though they secured a 4–3 victory, they crashed out of the competition on away goals.

As embarrassing as being eliminated by a third-tier side was, there are two more coming that make this result look positive for the 15-time European champions.

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2. Alcorcón 4–0 Real Madrid (2009)

Kaká could not help Real Madrid get past Alcorcón in the second leg. | Elisa Estrada/Real Madrid/Getty Images

History essentially repeated itself the next season. In what must have felt like a cruel bout of déjà vu, Real Madrid crashed out of the 2009–10 Copa del Rey in the round of 32 at the hands of Alcorcón, another side in Segunda División B.

By the time the final whistle ended the first leg of the tie, the scoreline read 4–0 in favor of Alcorcón. In fact, the massive underdogs had scored thrice in the first half alone.

Los Blancos could not even fall back on the excuse of starting a heavily rotated XI. Karim Benzema, Raúl and Arbeloa all got the nod, and Marcelo and Ruud van Nistelrooy came off the bench.

Still, the team could only bow their heads in shame at the Estadio Santo Domingo. They were so defeated that they only managed a 1–0 win in the second leg despite Kaká and Gonzalo Higuaín playing 90 minutes.

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1. Alcoyano 2–1 Real Madrid (2021)

Real Madrid ended 2020–21 trophyless. | Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Although many would label Alcorcón’s rout as Real Madrid’s worst defeat in the competition, there is one that is arguably even worse. Third division side Alcoyano, who went down to 10 men in extra time, eliminated the Spanish giants 2–1 in the 2020–21 Copa del Rey round of 32.

Éder Militão headed home the game’s opener on the brink of halftime, and his side were in cruise control until Alcoyano substitute Jose Solbes pulled his side level in the 80th minute.

Los Blancos soon found themselves dragged into extra time, where Ramon Lopez was sent packing in the 110th minute. Surely they could now find a winner against an undermanned third-tier side, right?

Wrong. Juanan found the back of the net just five minutes later to send Alcoyano through to the round of 16. The result was one of the biggest failures of Zinedine Zidane’s time on the club’s touchline.

It was no wonder that Real Madrid won zero trophies in 2020–21.

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