Real Madrid Vs. Ponferradina Match Recap: Madrid's Bench Get Some Confidence

Real Madrid got an easy 5-1 win against Ponferradina to advance to the next round of Copa del Rey. Mourinho gave Sahin, Granero, Varane, Altintop and Granero the starting role, with Castilla's Left Back Jorge Casado starting as well.

Nuri Sahin has played his best game for Real Madrid by giving a nice assist to Callejón and even scoring a goal with his head after a corner-kick. The Turkish player will surely gain confidence with this game and will start counting a lot more on Mourinho as his problems were not all due to his shape but also because of his approach to the game.

The game started with Real Madrid trying to show Ponferradina that they were not going to concede a single thing. The team tried to calm things a little bit as Ponferradina was pressing Madrid's players. Benzema combined a lot with the other offensive men and especially Mesut Özil looked better than in previous games.

The first goal came in the 25th minute when Callejón received a nice pass from the German midfielder. He looked for the ball very nicely and placed it into the net with his left foot. The ball touched the post but got the friendly roll to let the Spanish winger get another goal in his pocket.

That was when Sahin started to do his thing by delivering long passes and controlling the tempo of the game. In comparison, Granero looked quite slower than the Turkish player, showing Mourinho that the Spanish midfielder is not playing as good as he was last year.

Just before halftime, Özil crossed a corner-kick that allowed Sahin to score his first goal as a madridista. It is strange to see the midfielder scoring as he is not very tall, but he did what he needed to score. Everyone could tell he was very happy to score and finish after that bad playing streak he had.

Granero shot a foul in the 49th minute that was stopped by Ponferradina's keeper, but Varane could push it inside the goal as the ball came right where the French defender was. But four minutes later Ponferradina finished a nice counter attack with a really great goal from Acoran. Neither Adán nor the defenders could do anything but look to where the ball went.

The game was pretty much over anyhow, so Mourinho started to give more canteranos minutes. First he entered Nacho for Casado, who did not do much in his debut. Nacho had already started for Mourinho last season against Valencia in Mestalla, so he knew what it was like to play with Real Madrid's first team.

Six minutes later Joselu subbed Karim Benzema. The Frenchman completed another good game without scoring. He is certainly showing that he deserves to be a starter on Real Madrid. Joselu touched the first ball and scored after a cross from Callejón. Castilla's striker already scored last year for the first team after a good pass from Cristiano Ronaldo, but he could accomplish that yet again.

Mourinho's last change was Pachecho for Adán. It is always strange to see the goalkeeper being subbed, but Pachecho could enjoy some minutes in the Bernabeu and will surely remember this night.

In the 88th minute Sahin launched a counter attack with a nice long pass to Callejón, who controlled the ball and dribbled Ponferradina's defender to score his second goal of the game and conclude what was an unforgettable night for him again.

Copa del Rey's draw is this Friday, and the competition will be back January 4. Real Madrid players will go to enjoy time with their families in this Christmas time.