• Chronicle: Madrid achieves a desperate draw
  • Direct free.Courtois is Mister X
  • The lawnmower. The head of a doorman

Real Madrid saved the tie in the last play of the match thanks to Benzema's goal. A point that relieves the taste of a night that was crooked from the goal of Valencia, leaving whites with a bad face on the way to Camp Nou . However, in a corner in the 94th minute, the action that closed the crash, the French striker made the boards resolving a noise in the small area, after auction of an unusual attacker, Thibaut Courtois . The Madrid goalkeeper nodded like a nine for the rejection to place him on the net his partner. «He decided to climb himself. That means we never give up. It's Real Madrid, ” Zinedine Zidane explained later, very happy with the final result.

The French thought of the classic before jumping to Mestalla's lawn. That is why he did not place Casemiro , his starting point, in the initial team, being threatened with a yellow penalty. One more and the game of Camp Nou would be lost. "He can't play everything," he excused himself later, without confessing the preventive measure. To compensate for his absence, he filled the team of midfielders.

A Valverde was placed where the Brazilian, and in front of him drew a medulla of much possession, with Modric, Kroos and also Isco , again in the eleven of an important duel, as before the PSG. Rodrygo , who theoretically was Benzema's companion in the attack, stuck to Nacho in the left wing when he was defending. That is, at times the scheme was almost 4-5-1, for a headache of Valencia, drowned without the ball in the first 20 minutes. There Madrid had options to get ahead.

"We had chances to score"

«I think the point is little prize. Our first part was good. We had chances to score, ”ZZ summed up later. Up to five stops forced theirs to the local goal in that section, from outside the area and also head. He stole, linked and stepped on the white box, in a very good presentation. His problem, once again, was the lack of forcefulness in front of the goal, allowing Valencia to come out alive from that time and even generate a problem for Courtois , slow in a missed exit. The Belgian did not know that in 94 the destiny of the meeting would change ... in the opposite area.

The 0-0 of the break rewarded the awakening of Celades team, more lively when Parejo began to have the ball. In his previous isolation Valverde had a lot to do with Zidane. Nobody recovered more balls than the Uruguayan in the first part (seven), with options also offensive in the form of powerful distant shot. Did you rehearse ZZ for the classic the day after tomorrow? It is possible, because the Frenchman knows that he needs muscle and ideas in the center to be able to stop Messi and his creative partners. The test of Madrid, yes, lost bellows in the second part, perhaps with the whites already thinking of Barcelona . Conformism almost cost him defeat. "We wanted the three points, but Mestalla is not easy," acknowledged Courtois, the unexpected hero of the tie with that header to Santillana in the last corner.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Zinedine Zidane
  • Thibaut Courtois
  • Real Madrid
  • Luka modric
  • Isco Alarcón
  • First division
  • Copa del Rey
  • soccer
  • Champions League

Champions League 2019 - 2020Zidane: "I'm in love with Mbappé a long time ago"

LaLigaMessi, Valverde, Benzema, Suarez, a more choral game ... Why are Barça and Madrid thrown into the classic?

Champions League 2019 - 2020Hazard, first shine and then scare: suffer a bruise and reach the Classic