Abraham P. RomeroSpecial envoy Leipzig
Special Envoy Leipzig
Updated Wednesday, February 14, 2024-01:38
Chronicle Brahim invents a golden goal for Madrid on a night of suffering in Leipzig
"Since it's Valentine's Day, I'm going to tell you that
I'm in love with Madrid
," Brahim joked in the mixed zone of the
Red Bull Arena
, where he was the undisputed star of the night. The man from Malaga scored a colossal, almost 'Messianic' goal,
dribbling past three Leipzig defenders
from the right white line of the white team's attack to the area to draw a thread that slipped into Gulásci's corner. "
I put it where I didn't put it other days
," he admitted.
The Andalusian had words of affection for
Ancelotti
, who at the beginning of the season did not count on him much but as a result of rotations due to rest or injuries, he has given him the opportunity and Brahim has responded: "
Ancelotti has improved me
, I am a best version".
That best version of the former Milan player has arrived when Bellingham, one of his best friends in the locker room, has not been there. So much so that after scoring 0-1, Brahim approached the Madrid fans' area and celebrated the goal as the British usually does: opening his arms wide. "
I love him very much
. I have celebrated it like him because I know that he wanted to be there until the last moment, he has tried a lot and I dedicate it to him. From the first moment we get along very well, I am helping him with Spanish and he is a genius, he has a lot charisma and he is a great person," he said.
Of course, Brahim does not want to be anyone's substitute: "I don't like to say that because he is a world-class star and we are all on the same page," he explained, admitting that his physical change is helping him: "The
Pintus Method has an effect
."
Ancelotti: "I shouted at him, 'don't lose her!'"
A few meters away, Ancelotti was still amazed by the midfielder's play. "He scored a spectacular, incredible goal. When he caught the ball I shouted at him '
don't lose it, don't lose it
!'... And he didn't lose it...", joked the Italian, who positively values his improvement : "After two years in Milan he has returned more powerful, stronger, with more character and personality. He has not had minutes but when he has had the opportunity he has always contributed."
Brahim himself left the members of the technical staff in shock when he fell to the ground hurting his right calf. He had to ask for the change between obvious gestures of pain, but according to the coach and the footballer himself, it seems that it was just a blow: "
I have noticed a blow
and I don't know if my soleus went up or what happened. I guess tomorrow I will I will do tests and it will be nothing," confessed the Andalusian, while Ancelotti added in a press conference that he believed that "it is not a muscle problem."
Brahim's play also left some
controversy
, because the man from Malaga had the ball when he raised his hand and hit the ground in pain. The Leipzig players, instead of throwing the ball out, took advantage of the moment to start a counterattack and only Lunin prevented Sesko from scoring. At that moment,
Kroos rushed towards the referee and Haidara
to reproach him, and also the Madrid coaching staff towards the Leipzig team. "We had a misunderstanding because they didn't throw the ball out. They apologized and that's it."
The locals had been angry with the referee since the first minute of the match, when the Bosnian Peljto
disallowed a goal due to positional offside
by
Henrichs
, which according to the referee bothered Lunin. "There was no offside or foul.
We don't know why that action was not valid
," complained Marco Rose, coach of the German team. "We don't know how the game would have gone, but... The referee may have been a little nervous because it was his first game at this level. He made mistakes, that's it," he declared.
Lunin
, the protagonist of the action, evaluated the referee's decision like this: "There is a corner, a punch is cleared and a player is with me...
Not contesting the ball, but bothering me
. It could be interpreted as a foul, I don't know. I interpret it that interferes with the play, yes." Ancelotti was also forceful: "I was pushing Lunin, I think it's quite clear."