Real Madrid, sucked in attack from the Anfield barrage, slips away from the League. In Heliópolis, in a match without bullshit, raw and severe, he again ran dry and now has Barça at nine points. From Liverpool, a goal, that of the youthful Álvaro against Atlético. Faced with a combative and ruthless Betis, Real broke against Bravo, the final point of a team very well supported by the defensive scaffolding. And a Betis with ease while the oxygen reached him.
0
Bravo, Juan Miranda (Abner, min. 86), Pezzella, Luiz Felipe, Sabaly, Rodri, Ayoze Pérez (Luiz Henrique, min. 70), Guido Rodríguez, William Carvalho (Guardado, min. 79), Aitor Ruibal (Joaquín, min. 86) and Borja Iglesias (Willian José, min. 71)
0
Courtois, Eder Militao, Camavinga (Nacho, min. 63), Rüdiger, Lucas Vázquez (Dani Carvajal, min. 59), Aurelien Tchouameni (Dani Ceballos, min. 63), Federico Valverde, Vinicius Junior, Kroos (Álvaro Rodríguez, min. 87), Benzema and Rodrygo
goals
Referee Cesar Soto Degree
Yellow cards Camavinga (min. 25), William Carvalho (min. 46), Sabaly (min. 50), Borja Iglesias (min. 51), Rodrygo (min. 58), Eder Militao (min. 59) and Vinicius Junior (min. 83)
Madrid did not lack Vinicius and had a few occasions in the second half. But insufficient. Suddenly, the goal, so abundant at Anfield, slips away without consolation.
There was a lot of movement at the Villamarín, the scene of a vibrant duel, competed inch by inch, pulse by pulse. The staff sweats like showers. Two invigorating teams, although at the beginning between goal and goal, with somewhat hollow areas until the game picked up more volume in the second leg.
Until one and the other cast off, to one side, Borja Iglesias as a target, with more reflection in the game from behind, melee, with Militão than in front of Courtois. On the other side, Rodrygo and Benzema braided around the perimeter of Bravo, but without explosive charges. In the first act, a shot from Ayoze deflected by Courtois and a salvo from Valverde that almost burst the crossbar. The goal also escaped Vinicius, who closed an adventure by Camavinga with the bunion, this time on the side.
At the beginning, Borja Iglesias was barely helped by the second line —Ruibal, Rodri and Ayoze—, forced to row from a long way off. The losses of Fekir and Canales, the most enlightened of the Verdiblancos, penalized the attack of Pellegrini’s team.
And the Real, hung from Vinicius, a classic. The Brazilian, from the start more intense than fine, was fixed by Sabaly with Ruibal’s escort. But one and the other, nothing contained, gave him more air than expected. At the same time, the three midfielders —Tchouameni, Valverde and Kroos— could barely see Bravo’s ranch. Everything referred to the transit through the midfield, territory of Guido, Carvalho and Tchouameni. At that time, a match better played than finished off by two teams emptied from start to finish.
A rhyme between Benzema and Rodrygo brought Ancelotti’s team closer to the goal. Pezzella caught the Brazilian on the balcony of the area. Benzema executed the free kick and the ball hit the net, which it reached through Bravo’s left corner, which should have been more protected. The play had its intricacies. The ball had taken off after a rebound in Rüdiger’s right hand, squeezed into the barrier. The regulation is blunt: no goal can be validated with a terminal hand, whether voluntary or not.
Never lacking in substance, intrigue and excitement, the clash broke out after the intermission. A round trip meeting, without concessions. There were already footprints in the areas, little by little the resistance of others was overcome. Without truce. another volume.
After the intermission, Vinicius started a la Vinicius and his overflow was not materialized by Benzema, frustrated by Bravo. And in the other sector, a mistake by Lucas led to a shot by Borja Iglesias in Courtois’s eyelashes, agile and firm to deflect the shot from the Betic striker with a steel hand.
Two increasingly expansive teams, especially Madrid, in which the atomic Valverde no longer held on, which left Rodrygo one finger from the goal. Ceballos also had it and Vinicius had Betis on permanent alert. A Betis little by little subdued by the whites. A Betis referred to the role of Pezzella and Luiz Felipe, two central defenders with a lot of strength.
Pellegrini’s men, who don’t even speculate with shots, found the last stretch long, as if time weren’t waning. Yes the deposit. The game was the most demanding, a beating for everyone. As evidenced by the elusive young Rodri, exhausted after an exhausting hustle.
Ancelotti finally turned to cadet Álvaro. There was no solution for the visitors. This time, neither by Vinicius’s path, thriving and thriving in his lane, even though again he had more than one unnecessary scrubbing left over. Real tried it by all means, this time without abusing the side centers.
Betis held on and Real Madrid stayed on the edge. And who knows if in the gutter of a League that is increasingly distant for the whites.
Today, the goal is a mystery for the European champion.
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