On the first play of the game, vinicius He went straight to the area, as usual, and with his dribble he got the yellow card from Catena. First foul, first card. Vinicius smiled with happiness, but neither the criteria nor the match would be like that. They would be exactly the opposite.
The Lightning was from the next instant a gale homemade pressure and speed, order and composure. And he scored very soon. A very fast play by the García family, from Álvaro to Fran, who crossed for Comesaña’s left-handed shot and first. A collective goal made by Rayo’s left wing, the best of the entire match.
Rayo was owner and lord: owner of the ball and lord of the field and the pressure, with Madrid stifled. It took almost twenty minutes for him to attempt a multi-touch play. The center of the field was leaking, it was overtaken by a higher pace.
The only madridista exit was Vinicius, on whom a new defensive resource was tried with the referee’s total permissiveness: Balliu, surpassed in the race, hit him with a cate from behind and with two hands that knocked him down, rolling down the band. They still asked for a yellow card for the Brazilian, who shortly after, in a two-on-one, pulled the rectangle with a push (from Isi, in the help) like someone throwing out a too funny stranger from the town bar. Neither word of the referee, nor word of the VAR. There is with Vinicius a kind of collective league challenge, which goes from the press to the last right side, and that seems to have the referee’s approval, so that he doesn’t shine, he doesn’t dribble anymore, he doesn’t smile so much. He is the best player in the League, the winner of the Champions League, the starter with Brazil and they chase him around the field as if he were a criminal and a problem with the championship. He is the unseen. Were the sides giving Messi unpunished capons?
As Madrid was Vinicius, and Vinicius had enough, Ancelotti began to move the pieces in midfield, as if Vallecas demanded a new scale, which in fact required it: recompose or compact or scale the midfield or its structure. We don’t know if it’s because of the greater speed or because of the smaller size or because of both, but Vallecas demanded that the ‘Xaviana’ equation of the space time. Ancelotti swapped. The first was Valverde with Asensio, who returned to the winger and entered the area, gained ball and position and was clearly shot down by the defender. As the clarity was not evident to the referee, the VAR had to indicate it after several minutes for certification. A little more and they call a notary. to the world whistled and Modric scored beating Dimitrievski with amazing serenity. As if interiorizing the panenka in his rhythm, as if panenchising himself all over. It is very difficult to see that a penalty shot gives peace. Modric gave peace when throwing.
Ancelotti changed more things before the collapse in the average; he centered Modric and put Tchouaméni where Kroos was, lost and with problems in the very short term imposed by Rayista pressure.
More recomposed Madrid, came a corner that meant 1-2. Military He got away from the mark and with the place won, he waited for the ball, and in that position, with an astonishing foreshortening, he rose back and finished off with a head turn with which he picked up the ball as if he were doing it with a pelotari basket. It was an amazing goal.
The result was cold water for Rayismo, perhaps even unfair, and before the break Álvaro García remedied it, finishing off a collective move in which the white defense was like a pleasant viewpoint through which Rayo walked until he reached the left-hander, who finished off with force defeating the hands of Courtoisand taking revenge, because at the beginning of the game he had been frustrated by a goal with a Champions category save.
Just before and after the break, Madrid had two dangerous counterattacks that Vinicius and Rodrygo missed. The Lightning seemed to leave spaces, but it was a mirage, and it continued to attack passionately for both bands. It was a game to brighten up a Monday, a spectacle of rhythm, a give and take that had its area of greatest clarity and danger in Fran García’s Rayista left.
Driven by pathos, Iraola was expelled. Nothing changed. His team was well formed.
When it wasn’t Fran it was Álvaro, who in a quick counter beat Carvajal forcing him into hands that were already pitable and assumed. the penalty (Trejo) Courtois stopped him. But the goalkeeper repeated himself by advancing his steps and Trejo did not fail.
Ancelotti took out Tchouaméni, with problems even finding the bench (Vallecas will not forget) and Camavinga moved on to move the team. Madrid was as bad as in the first half, if not worse, because Vinicius no longer appeared. The team’s job would have to be to get him a ball, at least one. When he finally had it, he failed. the most toned it was Asensio (the one who fights for the World Cup, curiously) and Mariano entered for Modric, a declaration of impotence rather than hope. Balls were hung with a very undecided flight against an always firm Rayo. Madrid began to squeeze in the discount. A little late this time. His defeat is also a victory for Rayo, who was brave and courageous. A great little football machine against a Madrid that wasn’t there at all, as if it hadn’t been right with the shoes, the tires or the right determination.
