In the early morning of February 4, Beijing time, the quarterfinals of the Spanish King's Cup ushered in a focus battle: real Madrid, the winner of the championship, played away to athletic Bilbao, which is not bad.
In the current La Liga table, Real Madrid leads with 50 points in 22 games, 4 points ahead of second-place Sevilla, and the top position this season has been difficult to shake for a long time.
In the Copa del Rey, the defending champions Barca are out, and it is Athletic Bilbao who eliminated Barca. In the previous Western Super League final, Real Madrid defeated Biba 2:0 to win the title. For Real Madrid, the "Basque Lion" is fierce, but it is not a difficult opponent to deal with.
In the battle, Real Madrid started 433, Asensio formed a forward trident with Vinicius and Rodrigo, midfielders Kroos, Casemiro and Modric, four defenders Alaba, Nacho, Militão, Vazquez and goalkeeper Courtois. Real Madrid can be said to have sent the strongest squad, and there are bale, Eden Hazard, Carvajal and other famous players on the bench, compared with the past, there is only one less Benzema. The total value of the starting eleven is 470 million euros.
Athletic Bilbao started 442, with Inaki Williams and Raul Garcia forming a double striker, and the total value of the starting eleven is also 100 million euros.
After the game opened, the first threatening attack came from Athletic Bilbao, With a long pass from Visca midfielder and Courtois scrambling to destroy the ball before Williams came up. In the 6th minute, Nico crossed from the right and Casemiro broke the line. In the 9th minute, Dani fired a heavy shot at the goal and was saved by Courtois. In the 12th minute, Nico collided with Militang's cross from the right, and Dani followed up with a volley that was blocked by Nacho. In the 40th minute, Williams' cross from the left was blocked by Nacho's sliding shovel.
Judging from the situation in the first half, without Benzema's Real Madrid, the combat strength is also the level of the middle and lower reaches of La Liga.
In the second half, Real Madrid's attack did not improve, and Athletic Bilbao continued to hold Real Madrid onslaught. In the 45th minute, Martinez's header was deflected off the top of the goal. In the 49th minute, Munyayin's cross from the left was deflected off raul Garcia's header.
In the 51st minute, Athletic Bilbao's corner kick was cleared and Berenguer followed up with a long-range shot.
In the 74th minute, Asensio's long-range shot was blocked.
In the 89th minute, Modric and Casemiro made consecutive pass mistakes, Visgar passed directly, and Berenguer shook off the angle to hit the goal. It's a killer ball. Real Madrid are out.
Athletic Bilbao shot 2 of 16 shots on target, and Real Madrid only 6 shots on goal and 2 shots on target. When Benzema was on the floor, Real Madrid did not lose, but how many times were they suppressed so badly? For example, in the 8th round of La Liga, away to Espanyol 1:2, Real Madrid shot 4 of 18 shots on goal, while the home team's statistics are 8 shots and 4 shots on target. This season in La Liga goals far more than ever, the price of vinicius was almost blown to the sky, without Benzema around can not be, is a 60 minutes of inaction to play before being replaced.
Real Madrid summer window is bound to introduce such fierce people as Mbappe and Haaland, planning to sell Benzema at the same time, but now Real Madrid, without Benzema is really not enough.