Madrid (AFP)
Crippled, but first. Thanks to his victory against Espanyol Barcelona 2-0 on Saturday for the 16th day of La Liga, despite his many injuries, Real Madrid has temporarily taken first place in Barcelona, which receives Mallorca at 21:00, two weeks of Clasico.
Despite a full infirmary (Hazard, Bale, James Rodriguez, Asensio ...), the club merengue surfs on its good form of the moment with this 9th game without losing rank in all competitions.
The men of Zinedine Zidane have won with two goals from their French stars: the first of the central defender Raphael Varane (37), served by his compatriot Karim Benzema, then the second of the same Benzema, found by Federico Valverde (80) .
Only downside: the exclusion of Ferland Mendy for two yellow cards (82), which will be suspended for the next match in Valencia and leave the Madrid without rear left, because Marcelo is injured too.
The task was not easy for Zidane, who had to compose his eleven without Eden Hazard, Gareth Bale or Marcelo, announced wounded in the week, or Asensio, Lucas Vazquez or James Rodriguez, wounded for a long time.
But the choices of "Zizou" proved to be profitable, especially in attack. With six changes to the team that started in the Alaves (2-1) win over the previous weekend, this remodeled Real Madrid has lined up Brazilian nuggets Vinicius and Rodrygo alongside the unstoppable front-runners. Benzema center.
- Vinicius, brilliant but rough -
To spice up the offensive, Vinicius (19), who was promised the best at the start of the season but has played little since Hazard's rise in the left lane, has made many attempts. , with however a lack of precision in the last gesture.
His two rides (6th, 42nd), on his left wing, ended with shots in the gloves of Diego Lopez, the keeper of Espanyol, as on this attempt in the surface (26th). The Brazilian was alternately altruistic, especially on these shifts for Benzema (14th, 70th), and brilliant soloist, with such a gesture of class to put Marc Roca and Esteban Granero in the wind (32nd) ... before centering for anyone.
He, however, committed an avoidable foul on Wu Lei, the first Chinese player in history to tread the lawn of Santiago Bernabeu, but little in verve Saturday and replaced by Victor Campuzano (65).
Zinedine Zidane has managed to win with this Madrid recomposed by the force of things, three days of the last move (without pressure) of the Champions League group stage in Bruges and two weeks of Clasico in Barcelona (December 18). "ZZ" has also blown some executives and relaunched young people in demand for playing time like Ferland Mendy, Rodrygo and especially Vinicius, while maintaining the good form of the Madrilenians.
© 2019 AFP