Madrid changes hands

One year later, Madrid and Andriy Lunin return to the scene of the crime, Alcoy, black point in the club’s history. Lunin arrived in Madrid in the summer of 2018 on the recommendation of Juni Calafat, who that same season had closed the signing of Vinicius. His incorporation coincided with that of Courtois in a squad that already included Keylor Navas and Casilla, plus Luca Zidane. With the door of the first team closed, the club understood that it needed to play to become an alternative for the future.

The thing went wrong. He was loaned to Leganés and only played seven games, although in the spring of that year he was proclaimed youth world champion and Golden Glove with Ukraine. Haaland was the top scorer of the tournament and Majorcan Kang-in Lee, the best player. The following year he tried Valladolid, where they did not know how to see him. In the winter market he traveled with his father to Oviedo to make a third attempt. This time he wanted to make sure that it would not be a wasted loan. He played 20 games and returned to Madrid. As the coronavirus crisis advised against spending money on a second goalkeeper, Areola returned to PSG and Lunin remained in the white squad. It was a cheap and ecological option, because it did not cloud the environment. The club understood that the tensions experienced in the preceding five years between first-rate goalkeepers (Casillas-Keylor and Keylor-Courtois) did not favor the team.

Lunin had no other opportunity than the Cup match against Alcoyano, with the team’s blushing defeat, in January of last year. Since then he has only played two summer friendlies: in Glasgow, with Madrid’s defeat against Rangers (2-1), and against Milan (0-0). And neither in his selection they have given him opportunities. Today he repeats on the same stage with a spirit of redemption.

Isco, Marcelo, Vallejo …

The Ukrainian is still unknown. Oleg Smaliychuk, his discoverer and agent, said in his day that he would be “a great, vintage goalkeeper”, but it was difficult for him to place him. Levante did not want him even for his subsidiary before Madrid ended up paying 8.5 million for him. He started in futsal, as a forward, and very soon he was reconverted: “My thing was not running. I’d rather do a thousand five-second exercises than 30 minutes of jogging ”. In his environment they assure that he is obsessed with work. And in Oviedo they testify to this: La Nueva España published that they jumped off the fence of the El Requexón facilities to train on days off.

Lunin, an extreme example of a footballer lost in the back of the closet, will be joined today by other semi-forgotten people. Isco, who has only played 16 minutes since September; Marcelo, a glory of the club who has only played six games; Vallejo, nonexistent central (10 minutes throughout the season); Mariano, third nine in a team that only uses one; Ceballos, out due to injury since the Games … It is also the day for first alternatives such as Valverde or Camavinga. Even for Hazard, who didn’t show up for games like this two and a half years ago. Bale is released again, due to alleged muscular discomfort that does not appear in writing. He is neither injured nor well, Ancelotti said. He has been in that limbo for years. Since August he has not played for Madrid again. The coach has also exonerated those most affected by fatigue: Courtois, Mendy, Modric, Benzema and Vinicius. The latter gave negative in the last test and will be against Valencia. And Zidane’s favorite homegrown players are still out of his plans: Miguel Gutiérrez and Blanco.

The ten heroes

Of those who eliminated Madrid last year, on a heroic night, there are ten soccer players left in Alcoyano. One of them, Juli, 40, with 22 years of career, two promotions to First (Rayo and Alavés) … and no games in the highest category. Last summer the salary was lowered to continue playing in the team of his town, where he started. Vicente Parras is also there, the coach who took over the club in 2019 and took it to Second B. He has never left the Valencian Community to work.

Alcoyano managed to get into the First RFEF last season and share the group with Castilla, which they will face in two weeks and with which they are tied on points in the middle of the table. He comes from three consecutive defeats in the League, but from the Cup he already kicked out Badajoz, which in the summer was one step away from returning to Second Division, and Levante (on penalties). Eleven new players have arrived, giving a different air to a team that this time will have the support of the public in the stands. Last year the game was played behind closed doors because at that time Alcoy had the highest infection rate in Spain. The club, to get economic performance from a historic event, sold virtual tickets for 10 euros. Today the support will be face-to-face. More than 4,700 spectators will do their best to make Madrid stumble twice on the same stone. Warned arrives.