Real Madrid took advantage of Barcelona’s stumble in Vigo this afternoon, won with ease in Butarque and reduced the distance from the leader to four points with one game less, the one the whites have to play in Mestalla. Madrid, with a team of circumstances, especially in defense, was much superior to Leganés who only limited themselves to defending themselves. The big news for the whites was Kylian Mbappé’s goal, his seventh in the League and ninth of the season, a goal that broke a streak of four games without scoring.
Ancelotti had Valverde at right back and surprised in the midfield, where he started Arda Güler and Dani Ceballos, leaving Luka Modric and Brahim on the bench.
The first part
A dominating Madrid
Madrid came out determined to win from minute one. This time he did not temporize. In the first half he had a lot of control of the ball and if anything his greatest credit was that he did not know how to take advantage of his chances. The best for Madrid was Bellingham, who played in a more focused position and not as much on the wing as in most of the games this season. At times Mbappé played more on the outside and Vinícius on the inside, positions that alternated.
One piece of information illustrates the dominance of whites. They had 70% of the possession and had dangerous shots on goal eight times. Leganés did not come close at any time to Courtois’s control, who reappeared in the most placid match possible.
Vinícius
He was less successful than against Osasuna
Vinícius was not as successful as he was against Osasuna, far from it. In fact, he was once again seen tangled in verbal disputes with his marker, the full-back Altimira. The most controversial action came in the 29th minute due to a kick without the ball by Altimira in which Vinícius asked for a penalty but neither Alberola Rojas nor the VAR understood it that way.
Leganés survived in the first half thanks to several good saves from Dmitrovic. When he was close to reaching the break with his goal accomplished, Altimira got into trouble by himself. In the 43rd minute he lost the ball at the hands of Bellingham in a poor release of the ball and Madrid mounted a quick counterattack. Vinícius was not selfish and sent the ball to Mbappé to score the empty goal to make it 0-1.
The second half
Valverde scored from a free kick to make it 0-2
The second half began without a change of players and in the 47th minute Courtois dallied in a clearance and almost cost his team the tie because Miguel was close to stealing the ball from him.
The passing of the minutes left a game very similar to the first half. Madrid had the ball without the goal seeming imminent. Leganés remained rather hidden, looking for the moment to mount a counterattack. In the 61st minute, Madrid asked for a penalty again, this time because Nastasic grabbed Bellingham without anything being called either.
Madrid secured the victory in the 66th minute with a free kick. Ceballos touched, Güler stepped on it and Valverde threw a shot that went in close to the post. Immediately, the Serbian avoided the third with a great save from Güler, who left the field for Brahim. The third Mbappé also failed in a textbook counterattack after a great pass from Vinícius. With ten minutes left Ancelotti replaced Mbappé with Modric and Bellingham scored with a header to make it 0-3 after a shot hit the crossbar. Madrid liked it in Butarque.
#Madrid #fail #Leganés
