• Hazard.Debut between illusion and fright
  • Chronicle: Madrid likes and dislikes

The Real Madrid players (or antimadridistas) who disregarded the game against Levante in the break, with 3-0 on the scoreboard, missed the exciting final of the Bernabéu. They saved their nerves, though, like who in the final of the US Open went to bed with Nadal two sets up and broken in favor in the third.

For very different reasons, neither the Balearic champion nor this inconstant Madrid allow things to be taken for granted. «We have to think about playing as in the first part during the 90 minutes. That will be good for us, ” Zinedine Zidane claimed later, with a phrase as obvious as it is right. His disconnected in the second part and got into an important mess. After missing a lot of occasions to have sentenced the victory, Madrid ended up asking for the time. Courtois , with a splendid stop, avoided the 3-3 in the prolongation time. The comeback of the Levant would have been a very hard blow in the stomach of a team so in need of victories as of self-esteem in the face of the calendar that comes up. First, the premiere of the Champions League , Wednesday in Paris.

Fortunately for whites, the PSG will not be able to count on Neymar, sanctioned, and probably not with Mbappé, injured. The loss of Sergio Ramos , still paying for that famous yellow car in Amsterdam, complicates the defensive task of a team with a love of trembling, especially when pieces like the captain or Casemiro are missing. He checked again this Saturday at noon, in the rain that began to fall in the second part.

The departures of the Brazilian and the central - the first exhausted and the second with discomfort in the sole - coincided with the awakening of the Levant, as close to drawing at the last minute as having been hit hard a while earlier. This is Real Madrid, happy at least with what was done in the first period, its best version in a long time.

Two versions

"In the second part we had chances to score goals but it may be that physically ... I do not want to look for excuses, but it is true that there were many players who were out and did not have much rest," Zidane reviewed after the first league win in the Bernabeu

The medullary emergency that mounted the French worked, corseted by the casualties. He delayed Lucas Vázquez and James to the creation zone, very prominent at the controls of the game. “Physically it cost him in the end but he put character and dedication. He has ended up dead and I'm glad for him because he gives everything in the field, ”the coach dedicated to the Colombian, one of the big surprises at this beginning of the season. He attended, marked the times as a hitch and threw himself on the ground in the style of Casemiro. He is eager to convince the boss.

Who has already won him is Eden Hazard , the great attraction at the Bernabéu. His debut, shaken by the nerves that Madrid spent in the final stretch, left a good taste. Overflow, speed with the ball attached to the foot, the goal in the peephole ... «It has a lot of verticality, it is very good with the ball. But it only takes four workouts. I don't want to see him injured again, ”Zidane asks. The Belgian was delighted, at last in the stadium of La Castellana. «From the first moment I wanted to play here and now I hope this is the beginning of something very nice».

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Real Madrid
  • Zinedine Zidane
  • Thibaut Courtois
  • Sergio Ramos
  • Paris
  • PSG
  • Neymar
  • Mbappé
  • Lucas Vázquez
  • Eden Hazard
  • Courtois
  • sports
  • football
  • First division

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