Sergio Sanchez and Martin Demichelis gave visitors Malaga a surprise early lead with almost identical headers inside the first half-hour but Sami Khedira got Madrid’s comeback started with a goal in the 68th minute and Gonzalo Higuain hauled Madrid level two minutes later.
After relentless pressure, Karim Benzema slid home the winner in the 78th.
“The team didn’t start the game as it should have,” said Madrid coach Jose Mourinho. “The second half was completely the opposite. The team wanted to clean out the trash it had made in the first half. The attitude, the concentration of the team changed.”
Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini, Mourinho’s predecessor at Madrid, was disappointed at his side’s collapse.
“Giving goals away to Madrid on their own pitch makes it very difficult,” he said. “The tie is still open, but we deserved more.”
Madrid could meet archrivals Barcelona in the quarterfinals if both teams win their last 16 ties.
There were surprise results in three other last 16 fixtures on Tuesday. Third-tier Mirandes claimed a 2-0 home win against topflight Racing Santander, second-tier Alcorcon had a 2-1 home victory against top division club Levante, and third-tier Albacete drew 0-0 with Athletic Bilbao.
Madrid looked like adding their name to the list of unexpected scorelines after a sluggish first-half performance against Malaga. Under Mourinho, Madrid had won their past three matches against Malaga by an aggregate of 15-1.
Madrid selected a strong starting lineup with Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Jose Callejon supporting Gonzalo Higuain in attack.
Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini selected another former Madrid employee in Ruud van Nistelrooy as his lone striker. Malaga’s Santi Cazorla had the first chance when he shot straight at Iker Casillas from the edge of the box in the fifth minute.
Mourinho used all of his substitutions at halftime, replacing Kaka, Alvaro Arbeloa and Jose Callejon with Sami Khedira, Benzema and Mesut Oezil. “I said to the players at halftime that it was a shame I couldn’t make 11 substitutions because I would have changed all of them. I wasn’t singling anybody out,” said Mourinho.
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