As the clocked ticked into the 93rd minute, it
looked as though Real Madrid's unbeaten run
was coming to an end.
Zinedine Zidane's team, without the rested
Cristiano Ronaldo and injured Gareth Bale, had
already equaled Barcelona's Spanish record of
39 games undefeated, but looked to be falling
just short of eclipsing its great rival.
Trailing 3-1 to Sevilla going into the final seven
minutes of the Copa del Rey round of 16 second
leg, Sergio Ramos' impudent Panenka penalty
halved the deficit and gave his side hope.
The Real captain, a former Sevilla player and a
product of its youth system, celebrated against a
backdrop of boos and middle fingers.
It wasn't until the final minute of injury time,
however, that Real got the equalizer.
Marcelo's deft back-heel found Karim Benzema
outside the penalty area, before the Frenchman
surged into the box and slotted the ball into the
bottom corner -- via a fortuitous deflection.
Cue rapturous scenes on the Real bench, as the
club set a new Spanish record of 40 games
unbeaten and qualified for the quarterfinal in the
process.
