The second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal was held on the evening of March 4.
Real Madrid traveled to El Madrigal to challenge Villarreal.
Having won the first leg 4–1 and narrowly defeated them 2–1 in the league just recently, Real Madrid had won both of their last two encounters with Villarreal. This prompted Ancelotti to make sweeping changes to his starting lineup.
But there was one thing he didn't dare change: Yang Yang still started up front.
After narrowly defeating Villarreal 2–1, Ancelotti had joked that if he had two Yang Yangs and could rotate them, Real Madrid could remain undefeated throughout the entire season.
This alone showed how highly the renowned Italian manager regarded and relied on Yang Yang.
Yang Yang had never disappointed, either. At El Madrigal, just three minutes after kickoff, he received the ball on the right once again. In a one-on-one situation, he used Forceful Breakthrough to get past left-back Costa. But this time, he didn't shoot directly with his left foot. Instead, he cut inside and curled a cross with his left foot, sending it straight behind the defense.
Hazard reacted quickly as well. He surged forward, beat the offside trap, and scored with a first-time volley from seven meters out, giving Real Madrid the lead, 1–0, and making the aggregate score 5–1!
It could be said that this goal had essentially sentenced Villarreal to death, because they now had to score four goals just to level the aggregate score—and in theory, that was almost impossible.
But Villarreal was no pushover, especially left-back Costa. He couldn't have established himself as a starter for the Yellow Submarine without possessing considerable ability.
In the thirty-ninth minute, Costa made a fast overlapping run down the left and delivered a cross, sending a superb pass