Real Madrid have secured a narrow 1-0 win over Leganes in Thursday night's Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg at the Estadio Municipal de Butarque.
Marco Asensio grabbed the winner in the 89th minute as Theo Hernandez's cross from the left flank was met by the 21-year-old and flicked into the back of the net past goalkeeper Nereo Champagne.
Under-fire Real boss Zinedine Zidane picked a starting XI largely composed of second-string players, while Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale were omitted from the matchday squad.
The first half saw Los Blancos enjoy the lion's share of possession against La Liga's 13th-placed side but the visitors only managed to produce three shots, none of which was on target.
In addition, Zidane was forced to make an early substitution, with Jesus Vallejo going down clutching his hamstring after just 15 minutes played and having to be replaced by Nacho.
Leganes were more ambitious in the second half and enjoyed several chances as Jose Naranjo and Claudio Beauvue forced smart stops from Kiko Casilla and Marcos Llorente headed against his own crossbar.
However, Real managed to contain their opponents and turned the screw late on in the game, which culminated in Asensio's late winner to give the reigning La Liga champions the upper hand ahead of the second leg at the Bernabeu on January 24.
LEGANES (4-2-3-1): Champagne; Tito, Bustinza, Siovas, Rico; Perez (Branasac 61') Gumbau; El Zhar, Eraso, Naranjo (Amrabat 70'); Beauvue (Omar 82')
REAL MADRID(4-3-3): Casilla; Carvajal, Varane, Vallejo (Nacho 15'), Hernandez; Kovacic, Llorente (Isco 73'), Ceballos (Modric 67'); Lucas, Mayoral, Asensio
Giuseppe Labellarte
