Madrid (AFP)
With Karim Benzema, sparkling, and revengeful Gareth Bale, Real Madrid started the reconquest season Saturday in Vigo (3-1) despite the exclusion of Luka Modric. Zinedine Zidane's team is three points ahead of Barcelona on the first day of the Spanish Championship.
Even deprived of his rookie rookie Eden Hazard (thigh) at the stadium Balaidos, Real quickly took the lead thanks to Benzema (12th), served by the former banned Bale, holder surprise while Zidane had deemed undesirable it there is little.
And despite the severe red card received by Modric (55th), Madrilenians reduced to ten doubled the game thanks to a powerful shot by Toni Kroos (61st). Lucas Vazquez then pushed the nail (80th), perfectly offset by Benzema after a nice collective action, before reducing the score of Celta, signed Iker Losada (90 + 1).
While chasing the doubts born of a worrying pre-season, Real garners his first three points in this Liga, which had not been able to make the Barcelona champion the day before in Bilbao (1-0 defeat). In a win after a free season, the Merengue team is in front of Barça in the Liga standings for the first time since their last championship title conquered in May 2017.
- A real serious -
Zidane had said Friday: he wanted to see his eleven show immediately "competitive" to clear the throes of a 2018-2019 campaign to forget.
In Vigo, his team was very serious, despite an eleven holder who did not include any summer recruits for whom the Real has invested more than 300 million EUR.
It must be said that Hazard's injury on Friday rebuffed Zidane's plans. Suddenly, the latter had the pragmatism to relaunch Bale, he wanted to see it go but did not find a way out in this summer transfer window.
The Welsh has seized his chance, being cut by his calls. At the 12th minute of play, Bale overflowed on the left, chained two hooks and sent a low center that Benzema, throwing itself, catapulted to the bottom.
What give the tone of his performance: the Welsh has admired an impressive speed (29th, 44th) for a player whose summer preparation was disturbed by questions about his future.
In a very open match, Celta could have equalized but Madrid defender Raphael Varane cut a hot center (31).
- Equalization invalidated -
Then the video refereeing (VAR) has done a great service to Alvaro Odriozola: the Merengue side had lost a ball in its surface, leaving Iago Aspas serve Brais Mendez for the equalizer (45th + 1). But after viewing the images, the equalization was invalidated for an offside of Aspas, much to the relief of the Madrilenians.
Conversely, the VAR played a bad trick to the Croatian Luka Modric. The 2018 Ballon d'Or was severely ruled out for a sole on Denis Suarez (56th), the referee went to the edge of the field to check the images.
But the Zidane team did not disarm, helped by the parades of his Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (48th, 58th). And by multiplying the attempts, like an excellent Karim Benzema (47th, 61st), it was Kroos who put Madrid safe from a tense overpowered shot with the help of the cross (61e).
Then, some of the play sequences of this Real in numerical inferiority were very attractive, as on the third goal signed Lucas Vazquez (80th). Promoter for Zinedine Zidane, responsible for bringing Real on the road to success.
© 2019 AFP