Narration: This is how we live the game
First Classification
Since New Year's Eve is the time of annual balance sheets and summaries, Athletic and Real Sociedad had the detail of joining the custom and summarizing in 90 minutes what 2020 has meant for them.
The Donostiarras, winners of the San Mamés derby, recalled that they are now a consistent block, perhaps not as brilliant as in the past, but much more competitive in any match scenario, even if it came from a bad streak that broke against their great enemy.
And the people of Bilbao once again confirmed that
Gaizka Garitano's
project
is experiencing an unbearable decline, even though, at least until today,
Elizegi
refuses to acknowledge it by cutting his losses.
Perhaps after his tough defeat in the assembly and the no less tough team in the derby, he will think better of it.
Athletic did not even manage to shoot at goal in a difficult to digest match, only tasty for Real fans due to the three points they won in the Cathedral.
The
Txuriurdin team
needed little
to achieve a deserved victory because this Athletic is a hymn to impotence, a mere accumulation of footballers who are individually better than they show, but who are hopelessly shipwrecked as a group.
La Real went ahead after five minutes and their rival was unable in 85 to even threaten to tie the game.
And there are already too many of them so that those who command Athletic continue to ignore that this path can only bring hardships to the rojiblanco team.
The darkness of a soulless derby, contested by force in a thunderously empty San Mamés, was soon tempered by
Mikel Oyarzabal
.
The captain of the Real had not stepped on a pitch for 28 days, a time of hardship for the Donostiarras, with three draws and three defeats.
Because much that the
Alguacil
is a choral group, well worked and with a clear collective spirit, Oyarzabal makes an indisputable difference.
With him back, everything is easier for Real.
Suffice as an example the goal that opened the derby.
Everything was born from a robbery in tandem by
Guevara
and
Guridi
, but it was the '10' that turned a promising counterattack into a goal impossible to miss.
And that
Portu
made a mess and ended fatally.
But the service received from the left wing was so good that not even his lack of skill in striking prevented Real from taking the lead after five minutes into the game.
Dynamic change
With the visitor advantage, the party saw its natural dynamics altered.
Athletic was forced to assume more responsibilities with the ball and the Real decided to keep their clothes a little more than usual.
The problem for Garitano's is that it is not a team that is comfortable in positional attack, while its opponent has grown a lot this season in the defensive facet and is no longer the weak group back that it was so many times in past seasons. .
And so the first half ended with no news other than a very wide header from
Vesga
.
Athletic did not suffer, but neither did it intimidate a
Remiro
who made his debut in San Mamés after crossing the A-8 in the summer of 2019. Despite the evidence, Garitano chose not to change anything at half-time, although he did after the Real will return from the changing rooms with greater ambition.
In '56, the Biscayan coach finally decided to make a triple change.
It was of no use to him.
The best chances in the second half (the only ones, better written) were carried out by a Real sustained and driven by an excellent Guridi.
A foul from
Isak
to the crossbar, a header from the Swedish striker and an indirect free from Oyarzabal.
Everything else was sterile possessions of Athletic that did not lead to anything.
In total, he made four shots, none of them on target.
An obvious reflection that this team is in shambles and that it needs a drastic change to reverse the dynamics.
Nothing that matters to a Real that, after nine games without winning, achieved the most desired victory of each season.
On the sidelines, of course, of that Cup final that awaits both in spring and that Real is looking forward to today with much more enthusiasm than yesterday, if that was possible.
Athletic prefers not even thinking about her.
As long as the grapes are not choked tonight he has more than enough.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
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