Athletic boiled and melted Real Madrid in San Mamés, with the heightened intensity of a hungry and supportive team. He won again against a rival he had not defeated for nine years, in March 2015, when Valverde and Ancelotti were also on the bench, in another life. This Athletic is on fire, despite the wear and tear of the Europa League, and burned Madrid from the start until the final pressure with which it caused Fede Valverde’s error that ended in 2-1. Real was supported by Bellingham, who scored for the fourth straight league game, waiting for Mbappé to wake up, who missed another penalty, like the one he could have given them. Once November is over, Madrid deflates and Barça breathes again.
2
Julen Agirrezabala, Yeray Álvarez, Adama Boiro (Yuri Berchiche, min. 83), Andoni Gorosabel (Óscar De Marcos, min. 78), Dani Vivian, Beñat Prados (Íñigo Ruíz de Galarreta, min. 63), Nico Williams, Mikel Jauregizar , Iñaki Williams, Oihan Sancet (Unai Gómez, min. 78) and Alex Berenguer (Gorka Cruzeta, min. 62)
1
Thibaut Courtois, Fran García (Ferland Mendy, 70 min), Raúl, Antonio Rüdiger, Lucas Vázquez (Arda Güler, 87 min), Federico Valverde, Jude Bellingham, Dani Ceballos (Brahim Díaz, 57 min), Aurélien Tchouaméni Luka Modric, 70 min.), Kylian Mbappé. and Rodrygo (Endrick, min. 87)
Goals
1-0 min. 52: Berenguer. 1-1 min. 77: Jude Bellingham. 2-1 min. 79: Guruzeta
Referee José María Sánchez Martínez
yellow cards
Julen Agirrezabala (66 min), Aurelien Tchouameni (69 min), Lucas Vázquez (71 min), Ruiz de Galarreta (73 min), Jude Bellingham (90 min), Guruzeta (92 min)
The opposite that happened to Ancelotti’s team in San Mamés, subjected to asphyxiation from the birth of the plays in Courtois. As soon as the referee opened the floodgates they launched themselves into the Belgian’s area. After three minutes they had already stolen the first ball from Asencio due to drowning, and they had already tested Courtois. Robbery and advance by Nico Williams into the area. Shot and hand down by the goalkeeper.
Madrid found it very difficult to escape the tight mesh that Valverde had woven. Tchouameni started with the revolutions well below those of Athletic and the team only began to emerge when Bellingham and Rodrygo found ways through the dribble. Or when Fede Valverde brought out the power. But Prados and Jauregizar also pressed in the center. Athletic moved with the density and ferocity of a swarm.
Ceballos, who was again in charge of the game ahead of Modric, asked for calm, for more touch, but the touch did not take them to very promising places. The midfielder was hardly offered any runs that would open up spaces, and he did not invent solutions. Athletic pressed so much that it was impenetrable. The most dangerous thing he suffered was a slalom by Rodrygo who entered the area and was knocked down by Gorosabel. But the referee, faced with the VAR screen, decided that the kick had not been enough. He also contemplated an unusual play: Rüdiger, with no alternatives, started running from his field, reached the Agirrezabala area, there he was able to combine and ended up taking a tame shot. Madrid went to half-time without shooting on goal, with the most harmless game of the season in the first act.
On the other side, Athletic pressed and hit insistently, organizing their attacks around Sancet’s poisonous lucidity. It had that spice and that of Nico’s agitation. And also the presence of Iñaki, who tamed a ball in the area and left it with his heel to Berenguer, who kicked it over the crossbar. But above all, it relied on the committed intensity of the group that was drying up Madrid, in which they supported the authority of Rüdiger, and the speed of Fran García, who seems to have overtaken Mendy.
Along those lines, what was expected happened: Athletic took the lead. The play was another example of choral drive. Iñaki Williams put a cross from the left aimed at the goal, where Berenguer and Sancet went voraciously, stretching his leg and brushing the ball. This caused a moment of confusion in Courtois, who rejected it anyway, although the ball remained dead. Since Berenguer was also there, he pushed her into the net.
Ancelotti maneuvered immediately: he withdrew Ceballos and brought in Brahim on the right of the attack, which moved Rodrygo to the left. The movement seemed to take effect instantly. The Brazilian reached the baseline and left a pass behind for Mbappé in a clear place in the area. The Frenchman shot at Agirrezabala’s body.
He remains blurry, far from emerging as the footballer capable of lifting up a team in difficulty. Not a penalty either. Rüdiger collapsed due to a punch on the head of the goalkeeper who was trying to clear a cross, and Mbappé grabbed the ball to take the penalty, after missing Sunday’s one against Getafe. He shot to his right, like at Anfield, and Agirrezabala saved it, like Kelleher at Anfield.
With the departure of Modric, Madrid forced Athletic to retreat, supported by a colossal performance by Vivian. The Croatian, Brahim, Bellingham and Rodrygo combined, and Mbappé took a long shot. The Englishman caught the rebound and Real returned to the game.
But the red and white squad, refreshed with changes, resumed its suffocating enthusiasm with which Guruzeta blinded Valverde, snatched the ball from him, scored and finished melting Madrid.
