Hercules Self-Destructs in Madrid (1-0)

Hercules seems to have entered self-destruct mode amidst the winter transfer market and the undisguised tension between coach Ruben Torrecilla and technical secretary Paco Peña.

After admitting he was "angry" about how the January signings were handled, Torrecilla took action by benching Retu and Arumí, his two left-backs, to place Sotillos, a converted centre-back, in that position, who did his best.

But this time, the woes of Hercules did not come from there, as they squandered two clear chances through Dani Romera, who ended up sent off and frustrated, along with the entire team.

Hercules started the match suffering greatly. The high pressure from the reserves was effective, easily stealing the ball, and only the lack of precision in the final meters allowed the white-and-blues to survive this initial phase. Torrecilla's team recovered, settled on the field, and ended up being better in the final stretch of the first half, when an action that could have changed the game occurred. In the 42nd minute, the tireless Nico Espinosa stole the ball inside the area from Boñar to pass it to Dani Romera, who had the entire goal to choose where to place it. He opted for the goalkeeper's post, and Iturbe's miraculous foot saved the chance. In this same action, Boñar saw the second yellow for protesting, leaving the match seemingly in Hercules' favour.

But the halftime break did not suit the Alicante team well, despite Torrecilla bringing on Soldevila, far from his pre-injury form, at the expense of a lacklustre Aranda. The reserves struck first, in the 51st minute, in an action where Belaid finished too easily just after entering the area, placing the ball in a corner, unreachable for Abad.

In the 61st minute, the white-and-blue coach changed the system, leaving Colomina alone in the midfield to position Coscia and Romera as offensive references. The latter had another clear chance in the 66th minute, after a sensational pass from Colomina left him alone in front of Iturbe, but his cross shot grazed the keeper and ended up hitting the post. To cap off his disastrous night, Romera rightly saw the second yellow in the 68th minute for hitting an opponent in an acrobatic attempt.

Hercules put all their heart into the final stretch, but only came close with two headers from Josema and Coscia that missed the target, to the despair of the 200 Hercules fans who travelled to Madrid.

After this painful defeat, Hercules will play again next Sunday at the Rico Pérez against Fuenlabrada. This match will take place at 12:00, and Torrecilla hopes to have defender Abraham del Moral and midfielder José Artiles back, who stayed in Alicante due to various ailments. Forward Yanis Senhadji is ruled out against Fuenlabrada, as he will soon undergo surgery and will be out for at least two months after injuring his meniscus in his debut against Yeclano. This unexpected injury has left Hercules more short of forwards than ever because Marcos Mendes left for Sant Andreu and Dani Romera was sent off this Friday in Madrid.