Levante-Real Madrid Improvement, suffering and leadership

Asensio-Benzema-Vinicius. Write it down, because the end of the debate is coming. Definitely the bow of Madrid. With a goal from the Brazilian and the good company of the French and the Balearic, Madrid signed the best minutes of the course. Then he won as always, by a tubular, because the gift of the goal is not in this template, and by Courtois, whose relevance in matches should set off the alarm.

Zidane He rolled the dice for the fourth time, hoping for a goal. Players and they enter and leave the anthill, arranged in different geometries, with the intention that Madrid become productive. From approved scraping to approved scraping he reached the outstanding last League, but there is the conviction that it will not reach neither in this nor in Europe, where there is a lot of lion on the loose. This time he turned to extremes, a rereading of the classic, with Asensio and Vincicius, the most popular among the fans. It is up to the Brazilian to decide if he goes to Robinho or to Neymar. For the Balearic Islands, if he is a passing or vintage player. At the other end, Paco López brought together Morales and Roger, schoolmates at the subsidiary for a decade. A highly reputable couple: Roger, a scorer; Morales, a complete attacker, valid for the slalom for his ability and for the descent, for his speed.

The presence of the four went a long way from the start, in a match without preamble, with regular area-to-area travel and an unbecoming early-course rock beat. And as a logical consequence, the goal, from VInicius, unraveled from a corner kick that no one finished off. He knew how to wait for the ball and place it next to the stick with smoothness and precision, in the detail of a serene and scrupulous finisher, which he never was. The bullfighting courage that was supposed to be accompanied by his temper. There are fewer gaps left for Zidane not to put it.

Levante is a pretentious team. Very high pressure, defense very close to the center of the field and two points and two creative players, Campaña and Bardhi, to accompany from outside in. A daring that gives and takes away. It is a permanent threat but tolerates a lot back. So the same thing brushes the goal with a cross shot from Morales or a header to the crossbar from Vukcevic that swallows four cons in a row from Madrid, all more resolved, because on the way to the goal Benzema gets lost at times. We are in one of them.

In an open game, everything improved in Madrid: Nacho was once again the perfect firefighter, Casemiro and Valverde catch the tone, Asensio is far above his competitors, Vinicius exists and Hazard does not, Varane and Ramos are a strong … And ordering everything, the best Modric, whose enormous presence swallowed up Levante.

Acceleration and fainting

In the second half, Madrid opened gas. Too many minimal victories, the kind that lengthen the game and the suffering in recent games. In just ten minutes he had opportunities to thrash: Benzema's shot at the post, Vinicius's too crossed mince, a blunder at the Brazilian's free door … And after the gale, the swoon: two shots from Bardhi and two lifeguards from Courtois, the second with the foot, by reflexes, after rejecting in Casemiro, and another two zapatatas outside De Frutos and Morales. Four occasions for a draw against a lazy Madrid in the retreat. This tic is recurrent in Zidane's team: the temperature of his game rises and falls suddenly and that prevents him from closing the games.

And so that he would not miss a Madrid game, the VAR, which made a goal by Ramos illegal for a microscope offside. Before Levante, already shirtless, had asked for Casemiro's second yellow. Sensing the danger Zidane changed creativity for work in the bands (Lucas and Rodrygo). It was a change for the worse. Levante arrived a lot and well. Courtois pulled out two more in a team that beat a devoured midfield. That attack did not give him for the tie and it did make him fit the 0-2, against Benzema. The end of the anguish and the beginning of the new leadership of Madrid.