Great game by David Alaba! The Viennese guided Real Madrid to an incredibly important away win at Osasuna.
Real Madrid breathes a sigh of relief! For a long time, the White Ballet despaired of Osasuna, but Valverde and Asensio scored in the closing stages to win 2-0. Real are five points behind leaders Barcelona.
One of the most conspicuous real stars was David Alaba: He is back in his “old” Bayern position on the wing. Since his injury comeback, coach Carlo Ancelotti has relied on the Viennese as left-back. Antonio Rüdiger and Eder Militao are currently in the center. Ancelotti keeps using Alaba on the wing, but the 30-year-old has only played this position in eight of 27 seasons so far.
The ÖFB star had to watch as his defensive colleagues had serious problems with the snappy Osasuna offensive in the first half. Thibaut Courtois had to save three times in dire need.
Alaba got involved in the attacks, especially in the second half, his assist for Vinicius Junior didn’t count and the Brazilian was just offside. The ÖFB captain became more and more of a driver on the offensive, but the home team was still more dangerous. Only the rod saved Madrid from falling behind after exactly one hour.
Almost everything went through Alaba’s left side, but the Viennese had to be annoyed about Vini Junior’s current weakness in the finish. The Brazilian botched twice in front of goalkeeper Sergio Herrera.
In the 79th minute, Federico Valverde made it 1-0 for his Whites, this time Vinicus made the right decision and played across the Uruguay midfield motor. Vinicius’ second goal that evening didn’t count either because of offside, but Joker Marcos Asensio made it up 2-0 in added time.
The White Ballet are within five points of Barcelona, but the Catalans can rush back to eight points in Sunday’s home game against Cadiz (9:00 p.m.).
