Abraham P. Romero
Updated Saturday, March 16, 2024-18:13
Direct This is how we live it
If
Carlo Ancelotti
enjoys something , it is a versatile, multifaceted and chameleonic team.
That was
Madrid
again in
Pamplona
, in one of those trap trips that over time the white team has been able to consistently solve.
They have not lost in
Navarra
since 2011 and they did not lose this Saturday either, aware of the importance of each point, increasing the distance with
Girona
and relying on the talent of
Vinicius
.
The Brazilian scored two goals and was the best against
Osasuna
, who managed to tie but fell apart in the second half (2-4).
The duel had no rest, a fundamental maxim of every Jagoba Arrasate
game plan
.
Osasuna is intense, generous in its effort and has found in
Budimir
one of the great scorers in its history.
Perhaps feelings say that their season is being worse than last, when they reached the
Cup
final , but the red team has reached the final stretch of the season with options to fight for European positions.
Against Madrid, however, he could not add, condemned by an
error by Catena
, by a certain defensive fragility and by the virtues of a very effective Madrid attack.
Vinicius
scored the first goal in the 3rd minute, when the crowd was still getting into the rhythm of the match.
Catena was too confident in a cut-back and the Brazilian stole the ball from him to go one-on-one with
Sergio Herrera
.
He leaned a little to the right to force the goalkeeper to beat him and calmly finished with a cross touch.
The goal could have been a step forward for Madrid in the game, but Ancelotti's team, imperially overlooked for almost the entire campaign, has recently begun to show some weaknesses in defending the centers.
It already happened against Leipzig and he repeated the mistake in the 6th minute of the match against Osasuna.
Carvajal failed to clear a corner with his head and combed the ball back, Herrando managed to return it to the area and
Budimir
, unmarked, pushed the ball into the net while
Lunin
moved behind the goal line.
The Croatian attacker thus scored his 15th goal of the season, leaving him just one behind
Jude Bellingham
in the fight for
Pichichi
.
A minute after the tie, Vinicius had a new opportunity to put Madrid ahead.
Rüdiger saw the Brazilian's unmarking behind the defense and gave him a perfect low ball for the forward to face Herrera again.
But this time Vinicius was wrong.
He feinted with a bicycle and tried to score under the goalkeeper's legs, skilled at clearing the shot.
The most versatile Madrid
Madrid found solutions to the Navarrese wall easily, taking advantage of the
mobility of almost all of its players
.
Only
Lunin, Rüdiger, Tchouaméni and Kroos
seemed to have a fixed position on the pitch.
The rest didn't stop moving.
From
Carvajal
to Rodrygo, passing through
Mendy, Camavinga, Valverde and Brahim
, with Vinicius more 'nine' than other days.
These variations complicated Osasuna's defensive work and created the best opportunities for Madrid.
In the 17th minute,
Brahim
, very active, hit a ball inside the area towards the unmarked Valverde, who appeared by surprise.
The Uruguayan did not dawdle and put the ball back for the unexpected arrival of
Carvajal
, who first sent the ball into Herrera's net.
Fourth goal, a brilliant one, by the defender in the League.
After the three goals, the game slowed down.
Madrid tried to amass possession, making Osasuna forget its own intensity and looking for spaces behind the red defense, a few steps further back after Vinicius' two starts.
The Brazilian continued to be the most dangerous player in the Madrid attack, insisting behind the centre-backs and combining short when the play needed it.
He asked for a penalty from
Unai García
in an action and shot wide when the half hour mark was approaching.
Osasuna tried to wake up, more with heart than football, and
Arnaiz
had a good shot to test Lunin before the break, which ended with an
angry Vinicius
after seeing, for protesting, the fifth yellow card of the season.
He will not be there next game against Athletic, a bone for Ancelotti's team.
Sentence
After the intermission, Madrid maintained its idea, comfortable in the face of little opposition from its rival: possession, mobility and search for space.
And since Osasuna raised the defense too much, he found them with relative ease.
In the 60th minute, Valverde combed a long ball from Lunin and left
Brahim
alone in front of Herrera, taking advantage of the fact that Rodrygo and Vinicius had taken their marks.
The Andalusian calmly defined with his right foot and sealed the match.
Three minutes later, Madrid continued finding gold in space.
Rüdiger looked for Valverde behind the defense and the Uruguayan gave way to Vinicius so that he could face the goal.
The Brazilian, instead of looking for power, invented a subtle touch to beat Herrera and make it 1-4.
There could have been more
, because Vinicius himself
was about to score his hattrick
after a long pass from Carvajal, and
Rodrygo
, the most inconsistent of the entire Madrid attack, failed to score in a one-on-one with Herrera.
In stoppage time, Iker Muñoz made up the clash a little with the hosts' second goal.