Chronicle Courtois reigns on penalties and builds an oasis in the Madrid desert
Reactions Courtois' spy videos and Karim Benzema's idyll with the Super Cup
Interview Sergio Canales: "I would like to be more courageous and say 'no', but in the end I am in Saudi Arabia and I am going to play"
"I put the best,
the coldest
.
Benzema, Modric, Kroos
and then
Asensio
, who has a good shot."
Carlo Ancelotti
's reflection
on the choice of the shooters for the penalties against Valencia, far from any mathematical calculation or statistical analysis, served to explain another victory for Real Madrid in a shootout from eleven meters.
"
We don't train a lot on penalties
", the Italian had warned in the previous one.
and bingo.
With Wednesday's, the white
team has triumphed in ten of the fourteen penalty shootouts
it has played in its history.
An extraordinary efficiency in which he has already accumulated
three victories in a row
from eleven meters: the
2016 Champions League final
against
Atlético
, the
2020 Spanish Super Cup final
against the rojiblancos and
the Super Cup semifinal
this year.
All after
one of the saddest nights in
Madrid's recent history: the
2012 European Cup semifinals
.
With the return at the Bernabéu and desperately looking for the Tenth, the whites risked the pass to the desired final against Bayern.
It couldn't be in the 90 minutes, nor in the extra time... Only the penalties and that shot by
Sergio Ramos
that was lost by the Chamartín amphitheatre.
Jose Mourinho
remained on his knees on the pitch, impassive, and the Bernabéu wept for a generation, the
Madrid of records
, which was fading into continental history.
It was the
fourth loss in their history on penalties
.
Before, they had only lost in the
1975 Cup Winners' Cup
against
Red Star
, in the 1984
Cup
against
Athletic Club
and in the match for third place in the 2000
Club World Cup
against
Nexaca
.
Since 2012
, as if it had been a divine pact for the only defeat in a Champions League penalty shootout, football gave Madrid one of its best decades, with luck from eleven meters in Milan, Yeddah Riyadh included.
The white
team has scored all the penalties they have taken
in a shootout since the one between Ramos and Neuer.
Everybody.
In the
2016 final,
Lucas, Marcelo, Bale, Ramos and Cristiano
scored
.
In the 2020 Super Cup
Carvajal, Rodrygo, Modric and Ramos
;
and on Wednesday
Benzema, Modric, Kroos and Asensio
did it .
"For the fifth he had chosen Vinicius. Luckily he didn't shoot," Ancelotti joked to the press.
In the last decade, going back to the 2012-2013 season,
Madrid have scored 107 of the 125 penalties
they have taken without counting the shoot-outs, an outstanding figure that has had
perfect courses
, such as 18-19 (12 of 12). , 19-20 (12 of 12) and 20-21 (5 of 5).
With the final on Sunday, the
Cup tie
against
Villarreal,
the
Club World Cup in
sight and the next
Champions League tie against Liverpool
, the options of playing a new batch increase, but the numbers are with those of Ancelotti.
Beyond the historical statistics,
this year
the white team has scored
nine of the eleven penalties
they have taken.
81.8
%
.
Benzema has scored four and missed one (against
Osasuna
),
Rodrygo
has scored the three that he has thrown,
Modric
two and
Hazard
has missed his only attempt, in his case against him
Celtic
.
A slight improvement over the previous season, where
the Frenchman missed four of the 15
he shot, and something worse than in the 20-21 season, the last one with Zidane as coach and
Ramos
as captain, in which neither he, Hazard nor Benzema missed the five penalties they had to take.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
Luka modric
Eden Hazard
Marcelo
Gareth Bale
Cristiano Ronaldo
Rodrygo Goes
Vinicius Junior
Zinedine Zidane
Spain Supercup
Real Madrid