Real Madrid took the three points from the Santiago Bernabéu after beating Athletic Club in the postponed match of the 9th day of LaLiga Santander. Ancelotti’s men took the game seriously from minute one, did not go out to speculate and the first minutes were a white monologue.
Athletic was growing little by little and had the occasional occasion but Madrid took the lead in the 39th minute thanks to Benzema who scored the only goal of the match. In the second half the white team no longer came out the same, fatigue was noticed in the center of the field and the one who besieged was Athletic. But no matter how hard the lions tried, the scoreboard no longer moved.
Let’s see what was the best and the worst of Ancelotti’s team during the 90 minutes.
HITS
Rapid balloon circulation
During the time that the gasoline lasted, Kroos and Modric had fun on the field of play. At the moment the game was a white monologue with total control of the ball and there the two midfielders printed a dizzying pace making the team’s game showy, and Athletic did not even attempt to recover the ball.
Courtois
If against Sevilla Real Madrid surrendered to Vinicius, today the hero was under the sticks. Thibaut Courtois saved his team again by clearing up to six clear chances to score and making seemingly impossible saves. And not only did he have to face the balls that Athletic’s forwards finished off, but also the losses and misunderstandings of his teammates in the rear that put him in more than one predicament.
The Belgian is one of the best players in Madrid and for something he remains among the best goalkeepers in the world. Without him, the result would have been very different.
MISTAKES
Balls behind the centrals
Game after game we see how the Militão – Alaba center-back pair suffers every time the rivals throw a ball behind their back and against Athletic the same thing happened again. Either because they are not well positioned on the field, because they lose sight of the ball or due to a lack of understanding, but with those long balls at their back they put the fear of Courtois and all of Real Madrid.
It is a mistake that has been made in each game and that Ancelotti has to work to find a solution. And today we also saw individual errors that fortunately for Madrid did not have serious consequences.
Lack of oxygen in midfield
Ancelotti bet again on the same center of the field and the gasoline did not last an hour. At the beginning of the second half it was already seen that Madrid did not come out with the same intensity as in the first half and no longer dominated the game or the ball. Casemiro was late to more than one ball and that fatigue made him make mistakes that were inappropriate for him.
And despite the fact that the team had crashed, once again the Italian coach was slow to make the changes and did not exhaust them. The first to jump onto the field was Rodrygo for Asensio in 64 and he held on to Modric until 70, when he was replaced by Valverde. In the 80th minute, Camvinga and Nacho entered for Kroos and Lucas Vázquez.
Weakness to stay in the game
Everything good that Madrid did in the first half disappeared in the second. The white team suffered the siege of Athletic and it was difficult for them to maintain the result. Benzema almost did not appear in the second half, the ball did not last them and instead of going for the second goal they ended up locked in their area without being able to organize a single against. The good thing is that Madrid knows how to suffer but should not get used to it.
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