Abraham P. Romero Madrid

Madrid

Updated Sunday, February 11, 2024-12:53

  • Chronicle Madrid passes over Girona and hits the League table

A few days before

Valentine's Day

,

Cupid's arrows flew in the halls of the

Santiago Bernabéu

. Messages of affection from one side to the other from Chamartín on an important afternoon for

Real Madrid

. "We have dealt a strong blow to the League,"

Carlo Ancelotti

admitted in the press room

, hoarse but with enough voice to proclaim that "at this level,

Vinicius Júnior is the best player in the world

."

The Brazilian scored a great goal at 1-0, invented a pass with the outside to Bellingham for 2-0 and set up Couto for the British to make it 3-0. His best performance of the course just at the moment when his team was playing for the title. A few meters from his coach, the Madrid striker escaped the praise and forwarded it to

Bellingham

: "

He is being the best of the season

," he said about the Birmingham midfielder.

The Brit captured all eyes in the locker room. He retired in the 55th minute due to severe pain in his ankle and the first scans suggested the worst, an injury similar to the one Vinicius had against Ajax a few years ago and which sent him to the infirmary for seven weeks. This Sunday, Madrid issued the medical report and announced that the footballer suffers "a high-grade sprain in his left ankle."

According to reports from Valdebebas,

Bellingham will be out for three weeks

and is expected for the second leg against Leipzig on March 6. "

I can't be more worried than today

,"

Ancelotti

joked yesterday . Vinicius, despite the injuries, is calm: "Madrid has many players, Carvajal and Tchouaméni seem central, Camavinga seems like a winger... We train every day to give our best version."

The fear over Bellingham further strengthened the locker room on Saturday night. "

We are a

family

, we are more united than ever," Vinicius continued, giving prominence to a locker room without egos in which its leader, Ancelotti, puts everyone at the top of the hypothetical classification of the best footballers on the planet. "If Vinicius is the first, then Bellingham is the second, Rodrygo the third, Kroos, Valverde, Camavinga...

Training Madrid today is

...", the Italian reflected, without finishing the sentence. In love.

The 4-0 win over Girona was based, according to the coach, on the humility of his players. «

We have been a humble team

because it was not difficult for us to run without the ball. The emergency has increased the team's defensive commitment and then we have taken advantage of the quality we have. We have broken the world record with four injured center backs and we have done it in an extraordinary way.

In difficulty, commitment increases

», He valued.

And on Saturday morning, Ancelotti and the players received the news of

Rüdiger's injury

, who will be out for two weeks due to a muscle problem in his left thigh. He will miss the first leg of the round of 16 against Leipzig and the visit to Vallecas, observing his return against Sevilla on the 25th. «It is the blow that he suffered against Getafe. In the normal race he feels fine, but in changes of direction it is more difficult for him.

"We preferred to stop

," explained Ancelotti, who announced Nacho's return for the Germany duel.

Carvajal and Tchouaméni, converted

Against Girona, the coach preferred to reconvert

Carvajal and Tchouaméni

rather than bet on youth player Jacobo Ramón. And he argued: «In the quarry we have or have had

Marvel and Carrillo

injured , and Jacobo plays permanently in the Juvenil A and has progress, but before adding these players I have to look at my squad. There are players who, although they are not used to playing center back, have the profile, like Tchouaméni. He goes well with his head, he is intelligent...

What I look for most is that one tactically knows how to move

.