Real Madrid-Athletic The leader asks for the time

Kroos he spent 55 days off due to pubalgia. I had previously given up on Germany, which is always a pain. In one decision and the other he showed that he knows how to read his body as well as the game. He, saving kilometers, has taken over when Madrid seems to have gone the saint to heaven and the physical to the ground. He was the main player of a halftone leader, in which Benzema’s violin and Vinicius’s trumpet sounded little. Madrid won for Kroos, because Courtois is on the road to holiness and because no one in an excellent Athletic took advantage of Muniain’s ingenuity, a great player who deserves more recognition than that of San Mamés.

Another rival, another party. Athletic is a team that neither shines nor gives away, with a high rate of losses and recoveries, indicative that they feel comfortable in high pressure and that they like to be unfriendly from the beginning, but they are not as territorial as Sevilla. So it was easy for Madrid to subdue him at the beginning, giving joy to the circulation and looking for the sides with Lucas Vázquez and Mendy. In that need to stretch the gum on the wings against a closed opponent, we must look for the ownership of the Galician, the only novelty in the eleven. Athletic were reportedly the smallest opponent in two insane weeks, but Ancelotti has a hard time dusting his header line-up.

The moment of Unai Simón

The dominance of Madrid was not feigned. He really pushed at the start under Kroos’ management. Nothing happens on the team without him knowing. So at his first touch command, Ancelotti’s team soon stepped onto the area. That first attack went blank because Benzema was caught unsettled in two shots in the small area and because Athletic has the National Team goalkeeper for something. Under suits, Unai Simón has six hands.

That rush from Madrid did not last long. In a way it is a classic: He has been a gusty team for years, with short efforts, with sprint victories. And then Athletic found where to breathe.

Marcelino hardly changes his packaging, the 4-4-2. And his communication channel with the goal also remains almost unchanged: Muniain plus Williams. Grabbing the foot of the Navarrese, he left the body on the ground. And trusting the supersonic condition of the striker, he told Madrid that he had left. Williams is missing the peseta for the hard. It moves at an indefensible speed, it is perfectly autonomous against numerous defenses, it does not drain the bulge in the pressure, it has exit through the bands, but He has the last second of each action left over, in which everything is decided. Nothing that the first Vinicius did not know, who has taken three years to prove that he is not an impostor. In that second chapter of the match, Athletic chained three magnificent opportunities. The first was spoiled by Militao. The second was jettisoned by Williams. Alaba erred in the calculation in a pumped ball and left him in front of Courtois, but the 9 of Athletic was misplaced. The third made the Belgian goal epic, who survived a header two meters from Raúl García in a set piece, the dish that Athletic cooks best.

Benzema does not forgive

All before the new script twist, a second Madrid onslaught culminated in the style of the big teams, without forgiveness. It was in an action typical of the course, in which everything seems to be blowing in favor of the whites. Asensio shot with his right, his less skillful leg, Unai Simón rejected and Modric’s blunder on the second shot attempt left the ball at Benzema’s feet with an empty goal. The French do not miss one. Every week the euromillion falls to him. This time he did not even need Vinicius, blinded in the first half, although it caused the yellow of his two markers. Marcelino put on the blindfold and removed Lekue at half-time.

The goal further unleashed a match that was already open on the channel. Athletic lost any complex and went for Madrid. Muniain started from the top, a talent wasted by the National Team. Now he has added leadership and maturity to his magic. And he’s been in that state of maximum inspiration for a long time. He flipped the switch and the rest followed. As in the first half, Marcelino’s team had the best chances, especially two from Zárraga, and the government of the clash against a Madrid that is stunned without the ball. More than lack of appetite, it is disorder.

Clinging to Courtois

It was a miracle that Unai Núñez didn’t tie on a header without an enemy within two meters in Muniain’s umpteenth and final gift. He left touched and desperate for what he gave and did not receive. And with him came Modric, who has no legs for two games a week.

Ancelotti sought a transfusion of energy with Valverde and Camavinga, that order less and run more. It was after Courtois took another shot from Sancet. From there to the end Madrid suffered in their field, almost in their area. And with lead in his legs, he smiled at the accounts: he slept seven points behind Atlético and thirteen points from Barça.