March 17, 2004. Montjuïc Olympic Stadium. Real Madrid and Real Zaragoza met to play the final of the Copa del Rey. In the 111th minute of extra time, Luciano Galletti beat César Sánchez with a poisoned shot from the front and put a 3-2 on the scoreboard that gave the sixth Cup in its history to the Aragonese. It was the beginning of the end of that merengue team trained by Carlos Queiroz to which he became known as ‘Galacticos’. In fact, that defeat was dubbed the 'Galactidice'. After losing this match, the Whites also fell in the Champions League in the quarterfinals against Monaco by Fernando Morientes and gave up a considerable points advantage in a league that Valencia ended up taking.
Relive the 2004 final
It was a campaign that had begun for Madrid with the aim of obtaining the é clover ’, that is, the three main titles: Cup, League and Champions. They failed one. From that Montjuïc match until the resignation of Florentino, on February 27, 2006 and curiously shortly after being eliminated by Zaragoza in the Cup semifinals with a 6-1 at La Romareda in the first leg, the white team was shattered .
After losing that match, Carlos Queiroz's men fell in the Champions League quarterfinals against Monaco and squandered a great advantage in the League, which Valencia ended up taking.
To get an idea of the Zaragoza feat and the Madrid debacle, it is enough to review the lineups of that day. For Real Madrid they formed no less than César, Salgado, Helguera, Raúl Bravo, Roberto Carlos, Beckham, Guti, Figo, Zidane, Solari and Raúl. Láinez, Cuartero, Álvaro, Milito, Toledo, Movilla, Ponzio, Cani, Savio, Dani and Villa did it for Real Zaragoza, with Galletti and Juanele, for example, as distinguished substitutes.
Víctor Muñoz was training that Zaragoza, accompanied by his second Raúl Longhi. They concentrated the team in Peralada and they prepared the match in a curious way: with matches in which the starting theorists formed with 10 players and the 'sparring' did with 11. It served them well, because the handicaps were inferior due to Cani's expulsion in minute 67. Later, in 95, the forces were balanced because Guti also went to the shower. Contrary to what Zaragoza did, preparing the final with such dedication, Madrid was so abundant that they allowed themselves the luxury of traveling the night before the match, without even training in what would be the scene of it.
On the day of the game everything seemed to unfold under the planned script. 23rd minute and a goal by Beckham for a foul. But what many thought was going to be a military walk, it turned around quickly. Dani, in the 29th minute, and Villa, with a penalty in the 44th, put the hands ahead at halftime. In the restart and again from a foul, Roberto Carlos restored the equalizer in the 48th. We had to wait until extra time to undo the tie, with the aforementioned goal by Galletti that drove the more than 20,000 Zaragoza fans in the stands. .
The “blanquillos” did not celebrate that title as a sign of respect for the victims of the 11-M attack, which had occurred six days earlier.
