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Anfield’s KO Madrid remained without a punch against a resilient Atlético. Not around ten for half an hour. A bare real, dry, unable to scan an opponent with little offensive perspective, but a musketeer on Oblak’s periphery. Giménez, already at Atlético without the ridiculously designated Correa, put a neighbor at bay who saved Álvaro a point, Real Madrid’s best news. Ancelotti’s box lacked rhythm, better feeling for the ball, always very predictable. Simeone’s team, with little arsenal from the starting line-up, was enough to tie the rival.
1
Courtois, Eder Militao, Nacho (Álvaro Rodríguez, min. 77), Dani Carvajal (Lucas Vázquez, min. 83), Rüdiger, Federico Valverde, Kroos (Camavinga, min. 63), Dani Ceballos (Modric, min. 63), Benzema, Vinicius Junior and Marco Asensio (Aurelien Tchouameni, min. 63)
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Oblak, Mario Hermoso, Nahuel Molina, Savic, Reinildo Mandava (Giménez, min. 23), Marcos Llorente (Lemar, min. 57), Pablo Barrios Rivas (Correa, min. 45), Koke (Witsel, min. 76), Saul (Morata, min. 76), Griezmann and Carrasco
Goals 0-1 min 78: Gimenez. 1-1 min. 84: Alvaro Rodríguez.
referee Jesus Gil Manzano
Yellow cards Eder Militao (min 6), Koke (min 22), Marcos Llorente (min 35), Nacho (min 56), Nahuel Molina (min 70) and Modric (min 90) .)
Red cards Correa (min. 64)
It turned out to be a game as tough as Madrid afternoon. With hardly any tracking in the areas, as if piranhas swarmed in them. And many less tuned players in foreign positions. In Madrid Kroos, who was never actually intended as a central midfielder. At Atlético, an orthopedic squad. The best Griezmann hasn’t been a striker so far. And even less was striker Marcos Llorente.
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Simeone raked in with plenty of midfield and a thong attack. Carrasco, even the refreshed Saúl, were the ones who took turns with Llorente as Griezmann’s lifeguard. Much Rojiblanco nomadism, little Madrid language.
As a result, an encounter with amputated areas. Benzema didn’t charge, Nahuel and Savic pinned Vinicius and Asensio, author of the only unlucky shot in Act I, walked and walked. The clash, so contained by both sides, lacked protest football, a violator. In other words, any Vinicius, the main rattle of Ancelotti. Real didn’t sync, neither did Atlético, with two teams chattering away from the goals in the warmer periods of the game.
Reinildo’s injury – right knee problem – half an hour ago didn’t change Atlético, who parked Hermoso at left-back. An Atlético that is hardly ready for defensive competence. A Madrid with moorings, without steps from Ceballos and Valverde, also suspended on Vinicius. And in between a trigger-happy referee, lots of cards in a fair game, without bullying. An unorthodox save from Oblak before a left-foot shot from Asensio was all the ammunition for a bland first act.
Atlético was so little expansive that they even let Simeone intervene. After the break Correa for Barrios. The squad player had had less volume than any of his comrades.
The party lacked equipment. Ancelotti also intervened, hitting a reel from Camavinga, Tchouameni and Modric in one shot. But the referee marches for that. The man begged the boys for a head, but he lacked sanity with the sanctions. As evidence, Thumb Correa was ejected through an elbow into Spartacus Rüdiger’s chest, feigning a temporary death. The Argentinian shot the braid directly red. The VAR colleagues made the discs.
Ten and a half hours before the end, an even more reserved Atlético. Opposite, an equally gloomy Madrid that lacks sparks, exceptionally even without Vinicius. Really packed, the unexpected guest goal came. It is well known that in football there are no numerical disadvantages when it comes to set pieces. That’s how it went. Griezmann twisted a free-kick from the side and Giménez came easily around with a header that was as clinical as it was powerful.
While Madrid was being turned upside down, Ancelotti recruited Álvaro to shake things up and Camavinga became a winger. The tall cadet, who had been so fluent in El Sadar a week ago, took another step towards his possible graduation. Raúl’s student is a non-offender in the area, a sector where he lives with familiarity. As proof of this, his header to the draw. Modric initiated a corner kick and there was no mattress player to consider the Palamós-born son of former Uruguayan footballer Coquito Rodríguez. Álvaro, who has rods instead of legs, caught a shot for the local corkage. As Giménez would say, an inattention, no one knew who was tagging whom. Raúl also made his debut as a first-team top scorer in a derby in Chamartín in 1994.
Álvaro as the car of a Madrid that never gave up. A flat real from start to finish. Also against ten when he rushed more than necessary and wanted to look for the goal before the game.
Rush and more rush in a game where football had to be channeled from side to side, inside out, to eliminate the powerful Atlético. Space after space wasn’t enough for Madrid and Barça can do it again this Sunday if they don’t go into the ditch in Almería. Almost a win for Atlético.
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