Few occasions will Atlético send Real Madrid to the gutter, which is beginning to show wrinkles. But where the team does not arrive, the players arrive. The whites will be in the semifinals thanks to faith, epic spirit and, above all, the talent of a Rodrygo who rescued Ancelotti’s men once (3-1).
You never know if Simeone wants the ball to defend himself with it or to hurt his opponent. At the Bernabéu, Atlético not only discussed possession from Madrid, they took it away from them and showed poise from the first minutes. Although at eight Ancelotti’s men recovered a ball and turned it into yours-mine between Benzema and Vinicius that Reinildo aborted when the stands were already singing the Brazilian’s goal. The rojiblancos did not suffocate the start as Carletto suspected, who in the warm-up ordered Rudiger and Militao to test the long movement. He preferred Cholo to float in the middle block, taking the defense out of the area to accumulate players in a narrow strip and squeeze the white midfielders.
no recovery ability
And then the athletic audacity found its reward in a perfect triangulation with the ball from Koke behind Mendy, where Nahuel appeared to assist Morata first, who was ahead of the colchoneros. Simeone’s men played with personality, especially with the ball, playing against the indolence of a Madrid that is getting older and has no recovery capacity if Kroos, Modric, Vinicius and Benzema coincide in the eleven. Cholo’s plan, defending himself with the ball at his feet until he found an opportunity to hurt this naïve Madrid, worked perfectly.
With Vinicius resigned when it came to covering Nahuel’s rises, Mendy was left at an inferiority before the world champions Correa and Molina. The derby was an athletic round, but Simeone asked his team for the finishing touch. To make matters worse, Mendy was injured, which Ancelotti took advantage of to get Ceballos out, who took three minutes to come out, which it took the whites to stop the game. Camavinga went to the side and Ceballos entered the midfield. He won driving and lost recovery in the middle. Even less.
Real Madrid needed to recover the ball and be more aggressive in attack. And Ancelotti needed to activate this Neymarized version of this Vinicius more concerned with arguing than overflowing. The madridistas came out with that fire that they did not show in the first half and the Bernabéu lit up while Atlético, who had lost the ball and the place, fell back. The rojiblancos gasped asking for changes to cling to as a lifeline to recover the ball. Something that happened at game time, when Cholo pulled Witsel’s job to replace Morata. Madrid was not fine, they had opportunities but did not materialize. Ceballos gained weight in the round trip of a game to which the Atléticos could not put chloroform.
Large door or infirmary
At 70 minutes it rained less for the visitors, who did not give away the balls. He was able to give Griezmann the finishing touch, but he had no legs left. The play continued with a save from Courtois to Antoine and a Chilean from Witsel. Cholo twisted his fang with Depay and Carrasco. Ancelotti embraced the epic piling up attackers without a single recoverer. Large door or infirmary. And once again it worked out. This time with a personal move by Rodrygo, who in the midst of the chaos drew a supreme slalom that he nailed with the outside into Oblak’s nets. Ten minutes ahead with Madrid on the crest of the wave at the Bernabéu.
Griezmann was able to score and Depay made Courtois work. But Atlético did not give the finishing touch and… to the extra time. Simeone stayed with Kondogbia, Saúl, Barrios, Witsel, Depay and Carrasco. The whites with a higher eleven: Modric, Ceballos, Asensio, Rodrygo, Vinicius and Benzema. Extra time was a rollercoaster in which Savic made a decisive mistake, seeing two yellow cards in two minutes. Too much advantage for a Madrid that locked up the Atléticos and sealed the pass five minutes later with a goal from Benzema. Vinicius’s final goal put the epilogue to a very physically and mentally demanding game. Colorful, but not red. Atlético did not know how to win at the Bernabéu, where Madrid does not know what it is to lose.
Datasheet
3 – Real Madrid : Courtois; Nacho (Mario Martín 113′), Militao, Rudiger, Mendy (Ceballos 42′); Modric, Kroos (Asensio 73′), Camavinga; Valverde (Rodrygo 65′) (Odriozola 113′), Benzena, Vinicius
1 – Atletico Madrid: Oblak; Molina. Savi, Hemoso, Reinildo, Koke 8Saul 82′), De Paul (Kondogbia 82′), Lemar (Carrasco 73′), Correa (Depay 73′); Griezmann (Barrios 90′), Morata (Witsel 62′)
goals 0-1, Morata (16′); 1-1, Rodrygo (78′), 2-1, Benzema (103′); 3-1, Vinicius (103′)
Referee: Soto Grado. He sent off Savic (98′). He admonished De Paul, Reinildo, Hermoso, Ceballos and Vinicius.
