Luis Núñez-Villavearán
Updated Monday, February 5, 2024-00:27
Everyone's social media was upset because on a spring night in February,
Real Madrid
had decided to close the roof of the Santiago Bernabéu for this fourth derby of the season. Of the previous three, by the way, he had lost two. But the news of this confrontation between Real Madrid and
Atlético de Madrid
was not on the ceiling but on the height. The white team was a short team and with them they were on the verge of taking the match until the last flight of the red-and-white planes. "If they are higher it is easier to win an aerial duel," lamented
Carlo Ancelotti
at the end of the match.
The defensive line was barely 175 centimeters high on average. The center backs,
Nacho
and
Carvajal
, barely stood 180 and 173 centimeters respectively.
Mendy
measures the same as Nacho and
Lucas
, as Carvajal. "We lacked height, we had to suffer there,"
Ancelotti
commented . If we take a look at the rest of the members of the white team, only
Bellingham
stands out with his 1.86. Furthermore, in the warm-up,
Vinicius
was injured
and Ancelotti, after threatening
Joselu
, decided to take out Brahim so as not to alter "the defensive system they had proposed."
The Brazilian suffered a cervical problem that prevented him from starting the crash. The Real Madrid medical team gave him medication to see if he was progressing favorably during the match, but in the end he did not come out. However, the man from Malaga was on the verge of making
Vinicius
forget if it weren't for
Llorente
, who hit a header in the last minute to break the roof of the Santiago Bernabéu. "Happy because we have that award for all the work we have done for 90 minutes," commented the red-and-white number 14.
The versatile player from Madrid prevented all the spotlights of the derby from being on
Brahim
who rose above his 171 centimeters, the shortest of the 22 players, to justify the Italian coach's decision. He always moved well during the match, helped in defense and, above all, scored the goal that opened the scoring taking advantage of a muddled play in the red and white area.
Brahim celebrates the first goal of the match.THOMAS COEXAFP
While Madrid threw the ball on the ground, Atlético played with surface-to-air missiles. Every set piece was torture for the white defense. We are talking about
Savic
's 187 centimeters ,
Witsel
's 186 ,
Hermoso
's 184
and, above all,
Morata
's 1.90 .
Up to three lateral centers were finished off by
Savic
,
Witsel
and
Saúl
to the despair of Lunin who saw the red and white F16 flying overhead. And the pitcher goes so far into the fountain that the Montenegrin managed to score the second he had after a corner taken by
Griezmann
. There was so much silence in the Bernabéu that you could almost hear
Sánchez Martínez
ask his linesman who had the flag raised.
Controversies
Saúl
, who was offside, pushed
Lunin
back into the goal. Goal disallowed. To scare away the controversy in a few lines and more because it involves the same protagonist, two minutes later
Lucas
fell in the red and white area in what could have been a penalty from
Saúl
. Keep going, keep going. Shortly after it was
Savic
who blocked
Bellingham
. Same response from the referee.
While Atlético pressed Madrid to equalize the clash,
Ancelotti
did the red and whites a favor by removing
Brahim
from the field just after making a fantasy play. Sometimes, the stripes that the Italian respects so much, betrayed the one who was being the best in the game.
Finally, Atlético equalized the fourth derby of the season. "We are not satisfied because I think we deserved to win,"
Ancelotti
said, although
Simeone
said that what was "deserved" was the draw. In the coaches' duel, the draw between them is also maintained. We are talking about nine wins each and six draws. Madrid sought to eliminate a direct rival for LaLiga, but Atlético tied them in the last minute in a high-profile duel. Both coaches assessed the point as "positive", but the Italian is scheduled for the following Saturday to take advantage of his "great opportunity" to get closer to the trophy.