Chukwueze eclipses Vinicius and gives Barça a free hand
Real Madrid lose at home against Villarreal before Chelsea
MADRID, 8 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid fell (2-3) this Saturday against Villarreal on matchday 28 of LaLiga Santander held at the Santiago Bernabéu, in a beautiful and electric duel between Vinicius and Samu Chukwueze, with a double from the second to keep the ‘Submarino’ in his fight for the ‘Top 4’ and lower the white soufflé.
The yellow team repeated their triumph over the whole of the capital, as in the first leg at La Cerámica, despite the happy moment of Carlo Ancelotti’s men. The win against Barça in the Copa del Rey, a 0-4 win at the Camp Nou, had no continuity in a Madrid with one eye on their first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.
Wednesday’s clash against Chelsea conditioned the eleven and the local changes, but, to their own, Quique Setién’s men did not lose face to a game that they led below on two occasions. Chukwueze eclipsed a ‘Vini’ who was equally active in the other area with the great goal that made it 2-3, in the 80th minute. Barça, denied in the Cup, can smile on Monday if they beat Girona with 15 rental points in search of the league reconquest four years later.
Madrid neglected the domestic competition once again, with 10 days to go, although they had a dominant start against a ‘Submarino’ that was not very fine in defense. Reina had a couple of saving interventions and Vinicius narrowly missed another, until Pau Torres’s own goal came from a shot with great intention from the Brazilian (1-0).
Setién’s team did not change the plan, partly the injury to Ramón Terrats did, and Samu Chukwueze had already left a couple of good escapes and Baena the option of a long shot. Villarreal arrived in danger when the Nigerian, through the middle, broke Nacho to make it 1-1, before going to the locker room with the message of a hard tackle from Tchouameni that did not even see a yellow card.
At the restart, the ‘submarine’ once again neglected the rear and Vinicius, upright and very hungry for a goal, did not hesitate to strike after three minutes to make it 2-1. After a steal from Ceballos, the Brazilian had the third, again the game in a give and take. On the other side, Yeremy Pino, Mandi offside and another annulled to Villarreal, until the VAR said otherwise.
The one from Morales, just entering the field, did go up on the scoreboard (2-2), while Ancelotti gave minutes to Modric and Camavinga, without Benzema for a while. Thinking of the Champions League for both teams, Madrid did not have time to make up for their game and Villarreal, demanding victory shortly before Real Sociedad, entrusted themselves to Chukwueze’s state of grace.
The African forward made Courtois fly in an unappealable 2-3 that keeps Setién’s men in the battle for the ‘Top 4’. With everything, he had to sweat the ‘submarine’, especially with the penalty that Alberola Rojas indicated by the hand of Mandi that he corrected minutes later after the VAR warning. Vinicius left the last blows, but the leading role was taken by a more inspired Chukwueze if possible.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: REAL MADRID, 2 – VILLARREAL, 3. (1-1, at halftime).
–LINEUPS:
REAL MADRID: Courtois; L. Vázquez, Rudiger, Alaba (Militao, rest), Nacho; Tchouameni (Modric, min.72), Asensio, Ceballos (Camavinga, min.75); Rodrygo, Benzema (Valverde, min.59) and Vinicius.
VILLARREAL: Queen; Foyth, Mandi, Pau Torres, Pedraza; Parejo, Baena (Mojica, min.91), Lo Celso (Morales, min.67), Terrats (Trigueros, min.33), Chukwueze (Femenia, min.91) and Pino (Moreno, min.67).
–GOALS:
1 – 0, min.16, Pau Torres (own goal).
1 – 1, min.39, Chukwueze.
2 – 1, min.48, Vinicius.
2 – 2, min. 71, Morales.
2 – 3, min.80, Chukwueze.
–REFEREE: Alberola Rojas (C. Castellano-La Mancha). He admonished Pino (min.25), Pedraza (min.35) and Foyth (min.69) at Villarreal.
–STADIUM: Santiago Bernabéu, 57,887 spectators.