La Liga side Levante's performance this season is a good illustration of what it means to "drink cold water and stuff your teeth", they are the only 98 teams in the five major european leagues that have not yet won in the league, and in the second round of the Spanish Copa del Rey last night, they lost again, and they also lost to a small team in the third division.
In last night's Copa del Rey match, Levante challenged third-tier side Alcoano, with Levante leading 1-0 and 2-1 at one point, and the opponent was also sent off in the second half, but Levante was eventually dragged into extra time by Alcoano 3-3 and entered a brutal penalty shootout. In the penalty shootout, Alcoano's 41-year-old veteran goalkeeper Jose Juan Figeiras saved consecutive penalties from Levante midfielders Pepelu and Bardi, and together with Roger Matti's penalty, Levante eventually lost 3-1 in the penalty shootout and was eliminated by an aggregate score of 4-6. Levante has only beaten one amateur team in the first round of the Copa del Rey this season and has not won the rest of the matches.
However, their opponents Alcoiano, although only a third-level team, are by no means idle, and they even eliminated Real Madrid 2-1 in the third round of last year's Copa del Rey, breaking a huge upset. In that game, veteran goalkeeper Figeiras also performed quite well, shutting out 10 of Real Madrid's 11 shots on target. His teammates were also very competitive, dragging the game into extra time by equalizing the score in the 80th minute, and then completing the game in the 115th minute with one less person in the extra time, which made the then Real Madrid manager Zidane even helplessly smile.
Although opponents won over Real Madrid last year, making Levante's loss look less embarrassing, they are indeed in great danger. Bottom of the league, seven points away from the safe zone, having changed coaches twice and yet failing to win, is getting closer and closer to La Liga as the league approaches halfway through. If they still can't find a way to win, then their loss to a third-tier team next season will not be considered a cold one.