The Devil is in the details, says an old Anglo-Saxon saying. He also happens in football, where coaches have worked hard for years to take care of them, preparing strategic plays, studying the opponent’s, handling videos to nullify the rival’s virtues, squeezing that difficult to define and easy to understand that Camacho called ‘the other football’. But grasping all the nuances of the game is impossible even for the most applied coach, some fringe is always loose. And in this derby, a great derby, it happened. With 0-1 and already carded, Ceballos went to clear a ball in the crescent and instead of the ball he found Lemar. And he didn’t see a card.
Did he deserve it? He contains the leg, but punches and knocks him down. Soto Grado whistles the foul, but does not show him a card. Contrast that continence with the ease with which he later admonished Savic and Vinicius for a minor dispute, shortly after which comes a resounding turnaround from Savic to Camavinga, which costs him the second, this one unquestionable. So the one that finished with ten was Atlético, who had been ruminating for some time that Madrid had an extra ball due to the non-expulsion of Ceballos. It would be an advantage for a very even match, as have been the six ‘one-card’ derbies since Cholo was here, all of them invariably ending in extra time.
Of course there were more details. The brightest was Rodrygo’s goal, a great maneuver that reminded those of my fifth of Amancio, specialist in unpredictable penetrations. It was Madrid’s late reply to Atlético’s great goal in the first half, the result of a long and precise combination, almost indefensible. Two beautiful goals for a magnificent derby, resolved in extra time by Madrid with a goal from Benzema catching the ball after two botched shots from both teammates, and another, the end, from Vinicius, who thus compensates for the disgusting image he had to endure before the game, whose author will not appear. It would be the Devil.
