In the early morning of Beijing time today (13th), the 17th round of La Liga ushered in the focus battle - the Madrid derby. In the end, Vinicius assisted Benzema and Asensio to score goals, and Real Madrid won 2-0 at home to Atletico.
Atletico Madrid played well, but I'm afraid I'm going to say goodbye to the defending title early. Real Madrid not only re-established Madrid's supremacy in the first match, but also held the ears of the La Liga champions trophy tightly. Vinicius scored two brilliant passes, With Benzema and Asensio scoring goals, leaving the victory at the Bernabeu. Despite creating many opportunities, Atletico are under Courtois' control. The result of the game should be a true portrayal of the difference in strength between the two sides.
There were no surprises in Real Madrid's starting line-up, with both Carvajal and Benzema returning in time to reduce uncertainty. Atletico's side hides mysteries. Simeone briefly explained before the match the difference that a starter from Suarez or Cunha could make. But the more worrying candidate is the defensive line, and Condobia needs to continue to play as a central defender, paired with Felipe, who has been in a long-term slump. Llorente had to continue to act as a right-winger, playing one-on-one with Vinicius.
It must be admitted that Llorente did not play badly, facing Vinicius and Mendy head-on, and still had the strength to insert assists. Atletico's several threatening set-pieces this game were on the right. And Real Madrid's 2 goals, he is in the position where he should appear. Only the first goal, Vinicius sneaked to ascentio's side to launch a surprise attack, and the second goal, Vinicius did not go deeper, decisively crossed to find the back point empty. Llorente is already the player with the highest defensive rate at Atletico, but still does not appear to be astute enough, and it is conceivable that others will be played by the mysterious passing routines of Real Madrid's attacking players.
Benzema's goal in the 16th minute determined the course of the game. It was an atypical half-time counter-attack, Koke's forward thrust was cut off by Modric, the ball was sent to Vinicius' feet via Casemiro and Asensio, the Brazilian did not pursue depth and inward cut too much, decisively passed a high arc, Benzema calmly stepped up and fired a shot at nowhere in the penalty area. Even if he missed this, Kroos had already arrived. Ancelotti's Real Madrid no longer seek midfield control, but operate quickly on the flanks, waiting for the midfielder or even the defender to insert the bag. The style of play has been very skilled after months of actual combat, and the strange thing is that Atletico are like they have never seen before, and every defensive position is empty.
The second goal is the same routine, but this time the counterattack is faster and more concise, and Real Madrid has more players involved. Atletico barely defended, but all the players were drawn to Vinicius, with only Felipe approaching carvajal, who was inserted deeply, and no one noticed that Asensio was stepping up and breaking the goal in a position where he was sure to appear. Real Madrid seemed to be playing half-time attack and defense drills with Atletico all over the field, just taking time to play a few quick attacks to ensure victory. Before Asensio scored, Atletico had an excellent chance to equalise. Llorente moved the ball to the other side in front of the penalty area with his super quality, and Felix unexpectedly assisted LeMar. However, the Frenchman, who already had room to shoot, did not get up at the first time, took one more step forward, and the opportunity disappeared.
Compared with Real Madrid's skillful and cunning routine, Atletico has consistently over-highlighted frontal combat and exposed the intention of passing early, which is of course much easier to guard against. Not to mention that the "ceremonial three midfielders" played well, Modric controlled the overall situation, and basically made It impossible for Cork and DePaul to play in midfield. Instead, herrera, who made her debut at the end, brought a little freshness. After Felix and Lemar came on, Atletico was finally able to see creative and well-placed passes in front of him, but several head-on shots were deflected by Courtois. Griezmann took a direct free kick in the first half to see the ball hanging into a dead corner, but was picked up by a Belgian who was nearly 2 meters tall. Felix fired a close-range blast in the final moments of the game, and the ball was blocked by Courtois with his face, and at one point blood stained the field.
Felix was a little frantic. This season, he rarely has a good performance in key games, how can he meet a goalkeeper who is super-divine? That's where Simone comes in. Why did Real Madrid's carefully designed cross route deliberately bypass the defensive zone of goalkeeper Oblak, while Atletico desperately sent a high ball into the small penalty area without a head master? On the contrary, knowing that Real Madrid will play a quick attack with leisure and waiting, Atletico neither do area siege nor carry out tactical fouls to delay the advance, but instead eat yellow cards with the opponent. In a word, the result of the game fully reflects the gap between the two sides in many aspects such as team building, inherent playing style and targeted strategy. The Real Madrid defensive line has undergone a blood change and has begun to bear fruit. Atletico have brought back Griezmann, but the defence has not even patched, conceding more than twice as many goals this year as they did last year. The small hole was not filled, and it was two feet and five feet larger.
Simeone stressed after the match that Real Madrid is more decisive than his own team: "I appreciate the style of Real Madrid, the transition between attack and defense is very fast. We need improvement in every way. Conceding goals is due to collective error, not individuals. The league is still very long, and now that you have to think about the match against Sevilla, it will definitely be difficult to play. ”
Ancelotti was very modest and calm: "I don't think it's the 'Ancelotti effect' either. With a team of this caliber in hand, you just have to put people together to win. I'm so down-to-earth that I know exactly what kind of results this team can play. In my second season at Real Madrid, the team won 22 games in a row, but didn't play well in the title race. I still remember this vividly. There will be a lot of pitfalls later in the schedule. I've experienced it once and learned my lessons. ”
Wen | Wu Yifan
Edit | Peppery Soup