Madrid (AFP)
After the misstep against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday in C1 (2-0), Real Madrid offered a breath on Saturday on the Sevilla field (1-0) for the 12th day of La Liga thanks to a goal caused by Vinicius, who offers a moment of respite to Zinédine Zidane.
While Zidane was counting on the returns of his captains Casemiro and Karim Benzema, the click came from the speed and the quality of percussion of his young Brazilian nugget Vinicius, who touched a ball perfectly transmitted by Ferland Mendy, subsequently diverted in his own cages by the Moroccan goalkeeper of Seville Bono (55th).
A great relief for the French coach, in the hot seat after the two consecutive losses against Alavés (2-1) on October 28 in La Liga and against Shakhtar on Tuesday in the Champions League: "Zizou" sees his team back on the podium of championship, before tackling a crucial game for their European future at home against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Wednesday.
In the absence of captain Sergio Ramos, a true spokesperson for the Marseillais in the field, the Merengues lacked personality and control, in a match that they started off perfectly.
From the second minute, Vinicius had an opportunity to score, but his recovery, too crossed, did not find the frame.
Then in the 5th, the Moroccan goalkeeper of Sevilla miraculously managed not to concede a goal despite his missed clearance that escaped the head of Benzema, again holder in La Liga after his groin injury in the left leg there is a month (November 8) in Valence.
Bono was rarely put in danger, on sporadic strikes from Casemiro (15th) or Toni Kroos (21st) at the start of the match, but was never very reassuring.
The Sevillians were less aggressive than usual, and relied on the ingenious but harmless recovery of Luuk de Jong in the opponent's box ... and arguably lost their striker Munir El Haddadi, who slammed on the last action of the first period (replaced by Oliver Torres at the break).
This victory is timid but does a lot of good for "ZZ" and Real, 3rd four points behind leader Real Sociedad, before their decisive poster against the leader of Group B to secure their ticket for the knockout stages of the Champions League, Wednesday.
© 2020 AFP