The night of January 23, Mestalla.
The second leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinal, with Real Madrid visiting Valencia.
This was the third clash between Real Madrid and Los Murciélagos in the space of a week.
In the first match, Real Madrid had beaten their opponents 2–0 at home to win the first leg. Then, away against Valencia in the twentieth round of La Liga, Real Madrid had again crushed Valencia 5–0, thanks to Yang Yang's Hat-trick and an assist, while Di Maria had scored a Brace.
Two straight defeats, conceding seven goals without scoring once—this was utterly unacceptable for Los Murciélagos. So, in the final clash, which was also the most important, Valencia Head Coach Valverde declared that they would overturn the deficit at home. He also fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation with Double Defensive Midfielders.
Real Madrid had won two straight matches and equaled the Top Five Leagues record of seventeen consecutive victories set by Inter Milan during Mancini's tenure. Their morale was soaring, and they had returned to Mestalla full of ambition and determined to win.
Real Madrid started aggressively, but Valencia, having lost two matches in a row, were clearly playing with anger. Their challenges grew increasingly physical, placing tremendous pressure on Real Madrid.
In the thirteenth minute, chaos erupted inside Real Madrid's penalty area. Arbeloa, who had started the match, desperately attempted a volleyed clearance to send the ball flying, but he unexpectedly kicked Casillas's left hand as the goalkeeper rushed out.
After taking the kick, the Real Madrid goalkeeper collapsed and could not get back up. His left hand was seriously injured.
Ancelotti had no choice but to make a substitution, replacing Casillas with backup goalkeeper Adán. The Captain Armband was placed on Ramos's arm, but a shadow had already fallen over the entire