Con una defensa permeable pero con mas verticalidad, los merengues se imponen en San Mamés (ESP-ENG)

Happy almost beginning of the week fellow community members, nothing better for a Sunday than to enjoy what the sport offers us for all ages and for all tastes, in my personal case I decided this Sunday to get comfortable and enjoy what the 18th round of La Liga Santander (Spanish League) had prepared, in the menu there were several very striking options, among these the meetings of the leaders, Barcelona faced Getafe shortly before his pursuer and protagonist of this post Real Madrid. Both clubs had only 3 points separating them in the standings before the start of their respective matches, it was important what each team achieved on this day, especially because of their commitments in other competitions which force them not to make mistakes.

It is time to talk about Madrid and the fact is that the team coached by the Italian DT C. Ancelotti had to win this match against Athletic de Bilbao because of the stumble in previous matchdays, they ceded their place as leaders to FC Barcelona, the Merengues have started the year 2023 with the left foot and with a fearful step far away from their Champions League and local league winning version of last season. Another reason is the upcoming match this coming Thursday in the Copa del Rey, being a possibly complicated match as it is a Madrid derby "Real Madrid-Atletico Madrid", a demanding 4th round that requires the highest possible level, so getting 3 points at the San Mames had to be as less tiring as possible.

This match, which I am telling you about, started with certain peculiarities and one of them was the changes that the DT merengue would make, we would see what we did not imagine a few months ago, Kroos and Modric both being substitutes, Ancelotti would bet again for the formula that led them to overcome the match against the yellow submarine Villarreal, joining the midfield Dani Ceballos and Asensio in offense.

The first minutes began to run and the expectations were not entirely favorable for the Merengue side, once again the rival was the one of the initiative from the start looking to position themselves quickly in Madrid's field, it is beginning to show that the rivals perceive that Los Blancos are not handling well the high pressures, the bad backs of some players and the poor driving are an almost fixed feature in every match played by Madrid, therefore it is a weakness that rivals seek to exploit.

However, after a few minutes of warming up the Merengues' engines, a change of attitude began in comparison to previous presentations, an important fact to reach this conclusion is the chances generated and especially the shots on goal, which were appearing even in the second half of the match. With Asensio very active and serving as a bridge in the transfer of the ball, a more fluid game could be felt.

Madrid was in a better moment in the match, but Athletic did not stop pressing, generating their arrivals which broke the defensive line with ease, Mendy does not usually have quick reverses leaving a defense in several opportunities in numerical inferiority.

Although beyond the defensive shortcomings, the Merengue team did not stop attacking and managed to break the silence on the scoreboard first at minute 24', when Ceballos played to Valverde and he served a cross to the penalty area that Asensio headed, This action would serve more as an assist that the French Karim Benzema would take advantage of in an incredible volley scoring a goal with a lot of meaning for the 9 merengue as with this goal (228) he would reach Raul as the second highest scorer of the club in the Santander League. In this way, Madrid would take the lead in the scoreboard after starting behind in their last matches.

Despite the good performance of the Merengue, the match was not yet resolved, after the first white blow, the now customary boost in spirit was present, the one that on many occasions has made Ancelotti get out of trouble, ball possession and chances would continue but without being effective although they were favorable as they helped to keep everything under control until the end of the first stage.

Once the break was over, both teams went back to the field without changes, the Merengue starting 11 gave good results from the functional aspect reflecting it in the scoreboard that by the way making an aside, I must admit that I was surprised by the performance of the Spanish Dani Ceballos in this game, I did not expect the player to enter this game with the same energy and dynamism as the previous one against Villarreal, this opinion was expressed in my previous publication and today I can say that if he maintains this level he can fight for the midfield. Having said this and going back to the second half, I can tell you that nothing changed at all, Real Madrid would continue to control and dominate, this would remain so for about 20 minutes of the second half, where at this point there would be a change in Bilbao's scheme, They would increase the offensive by withdrawing two midfielders and instead two strikers, this would even things out by increasing at times the arrivals of the red and white, from the last 20 minutes or so Madrid would begin to suffer, putting at risk on several occasions the minimal advantage of Real Madrid.

The constant arrivals of Bilbao were starting to be a problem for Ancelotti, so he would go to the substitutes' bench, first introducing Modric who was not present against Villarreal, this change would replace Asensio, who had a very good game and contributed a lot both offensively and in the creation of play.

The Croatian's entry would be of little relevance due to his lack of participation in plays, he would be scattered since his entry, something not very common for what he showed before the World Cup.

The reinforcements continued to arrive, this time with the substitution of the Brazilian for Brazilian, Rodrygo entered the field for Vinicius Jr, who was very affected and at times lost concentration, wasting plays by looking for fouls in his favor. The Brazilian is very unbalanced on his wing, but when he changes the connection with his teammates due to attitudes like these, he usually leaves the team without options for the creation of play on that side of the field.

Finally, the arrival of the German Kroos for Ceballos, the Spanish had given everything and it was time for a little more control and cooling of the match.

It would be a complicated last few minutes for Madrid as they began to play closer to their area and risked that at any time by any mistake or loose ball could fall the tie, despite this and despite the fact that the opponent can be in constant attack, you should never neglect a team like Madrid where out of nowhere you generate plays that seem written and destined to happen. Modric, who had not had much relevance since his entrance, took a shot that was poorly received by Lekue and before the astuteness of the other newcomer Rodrygo to take advantage of the mistake, setting up a play with Valverde giving the ball back to the carioca to make a low cross into the area that would meet another of the alternatives chosen by Ancelotti, Kroos would take a shot to the goal that would go in grazing the goalkeeper Unain Simon's post to score the second goal of the match, being a bucket of cold water for a red and white team that saw a draw possible.

Real Madrid would be saying goodbye this weekend with 3 points in the league, which would allow them to keep pace with the Culé team, who would also win their match against Getafe.

Things are very evenly matched at the top of the table, two teams that do not want to leave anything to chance both in the league and in the other competitions in which they are active.

In this way with a busy weekend and recharged with good soccer I say goodbye but not before wishing you a happy end of the week hoping that you start with all the energy on Monday to conquer like Real Madrid all your goals 😁✌️, I hope to see you in another opportunity Hivers!!!!

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