Osasuna-Real Madrid Again below zero

The season changes, the Polar League appears and Madrid is still in the same place: invalid against hermetic teams, whatever your condition. In El Sadar he found one night and an unpleasant rival and the abuse of the ball did not lead to the goal, an endemic evil. This is where this League is leaving, because application and defensive firmness no longer give to hunt down a fired Atlético.

Zidane decided that, even with Filomena unleashed, it is already time and kicked out Hazard, who had played 29 minutes in the last month and a half, for a new life to begin. Thus entered the man who went from figure to fissure in an arctic game, pending until the end of the Meteosat, the heaters and 40 human snowplows. And to make room for it, he misconfigured the team. It was not convenient to sit the best Asensio in months and he changed bands. Lucas Vázquez did not deserve to leave and brought him back to the side. Ultimately, he played what worked to sneak Hazard, who is very far from himself. Maybe I'll be back, but it doesn't seem like that soon. And it was clear that Asensio produces more on the left and that Lucas has more spice as a winger.

Without sticking

Soto's first whistle unleashed the storm again and Madrid, who had dodged two spans of snow and four spans of indignation the day before to be in El Sadar, was in a hurry to cut corners. Because of the weather, because of the rival, because of the insecurity caused by his situation in the table or because without fans it is more difficult to intimidate, Osasuna's first pressure was lukewarm. Also his lineup, with a point and a half and Budimir on the bench. What happens is that Madrid has substituted self-denial for hit and that slows down the procedures.

It is hard for Madrid to chew the chances and let's not say the goals. Send a lot to score little. And he loses his courage when he delays in making a difference. After a quarter of an hour a clear one went away, in the first Benzema-Hazard wireless connection that ended with a faulty shot from the Belgian on a semi-whitened and treacherous lawn. With very elongated Mendy on the left, Hazard enlisted as playmaker. That seemed like a land of opportunity, but not with this surface, suitable for skaters. That is an area that requires maximum precision and this time it was impossible to draw the last pass well.

Osasuna trusted everything to what Calleri hunted above, one of those percussion nines that is not bothered by the long ball or prolonged periods of inactivity. And from behind, an orderly group, intelligent in its confinement, without neglect. He even allowed himself a crazy minute in the Madrid area. Courtois stopped Oier's header and the rest of the shots hit a white wall. Madrid's response before the break was unimaginative: wholesale centers to the area without an auctioneer appearing.

Three nines

The second half brought two novelties: a more invasive pressure from Osasuna and a better interior game from Madrid, that in short he began to handle himself better. The first consequence was an Asensio shot that Sergio Herrera rejected. The second, a goal disallowed to Benzema for indisputable offside. As time was running out Zidane put Valverde at the expense of Asensio. Corduroy by silk on the right. There was no immediate effect. Hazard accentuated his tendency to go to the center, but Madrid did not find the spaces. And as the thing returned to drift into balls to the pan, Mariano arrived, accompanied by Isco, two forgotten ones. Hazard was leaving another train.

The changes did not improve Madrid. Isco is very far from Modric, who pouted his departure. Mariano was also lost in the Osasuna bush. So they ended up claiming the third nine, Ramos, who had a goal disallowed. The last remedy, the unmistakable symptom of the despair that once resulted. Not this time in an unstable team that arrived on red alert and left El Sadar on red alert.