Only half an hour had passed at the Olympic Stadium in Rome and the game was already lost, with three goals against and outnumbered, after Aihen Muñoz was sent off for a double yellow card, too naive in front of a light-handed referee. Lazio took advantage of all realistic weaknesses, including the lack of finesse in finishing, to immediately put the distance.
3
Christos Mandas, Adam Marusic, Nuno Tavares (Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, min. 42), Mario Gila, Alessio Romagnoli, Mattia Zaccagni (Loum Tchaouna, min. 55), Mattéo Guendouzi, Gustav Isaksen (Tijjani Noslin, min. 55), Nicolò Rovella, Boulaye Dia (Mahamadou Balde, min. 75) and Valentín Castellanos (Pedro, min. 45)
1
Álex Remiro, Igor Zubeldia, Aihen Muñoz, Nayef Aguerd (Jon Pacheco, min. 70), Jon Aramburu, Takefusa Kubo (Ander Barrenetxea, min. 45), Sheraldo Becker, Brais Méndez (Javi López, min. 35), Martín Zubimendi (Aritz Elustondo, min. 45), Luka Sucic and Mikel Oyarzabal (Pablo Marín, min. 45)
Goals
1-0 min. 4: Gila Fuentes. 2-0 min. 31: Zaccagni. 3-0 min. 33: Valentin Castellanos. 3-1 min. 81: Barrenetxea
Referee Lawrence Visser
yellow cards
Nicolo Rovella (6 min.), Aihen Muñoz (11 min.), Martín Zubimendi (38 min.), Zaccagni (52 min.)
red cards
Aihen Muñoz (min. 29)
After five minutes the Roman team was already ahead, after a loose ball in the small area, after a free kick was taken, which fell at the feet of the center back Mario Gila and shot Remiro. With the goal, Real panicked in all set-piece actions and in every approach to the area. Mulai Dia hit his shot from very close range, and in the next play, Brais Méndez saved under the crossbar, and with the help of goal technology, Lazio’s second.
Then came the fleeting best realistic minutes, with a shot by Sucic, from the edge of the area, that crashed into the post, and a run by Sheraldo Becker, which ended with a weak shot. But from then on, misfortunes accumulated for Real, because the Austrian referee was quick when it came to drawing the cards and Aihen Muñoz did not calibrate this circumstance and obstructed Isaksen’s passage along the sideline. He saw his second yellow and had to leave. Not two minutes had passed, Imanol had still not been able to adjust the lines, when Lazio scored the second goal, after a killer pass from Isaksen that Zaccagni finished off at will from the penalty spot. And still without assimilating the setback, another came, which sentenced the San Sebastian team, when Castellanos headed in a cross from the left by Tavares.
Imanol tried to cover the bleeding by removing Brais Méndez from the field and placing Javi López, but it was only a maneuver to limit the damage, although considering the match amortized. And when the footballers left after the break, that idea was ratified, because the Real coach left Take Kubo, Oyarzabal and Zubimendi, his franchise players, in the shower, because two difficult weeks are upon him, the Cup and the last match of the European league against Paok next Thursday.
So the second part was taken by the two teams as an inventory. La Real joined in behind and the Roman team decided to play calmly, without rushing, harassing Remiro’s area, but without stepping on the accelerator all the way. Lazio’s possession skyrocketed and Mandas, the local goalkeeper, watched the entire second half from very far away, and only the shot from the eternally young Pedro Rodríguez, the World Champion with Spain, 15 years ago, hit the crossbar. , brought the spectators out of their yawns.
That, and Barrenetxea’s goal in the last minutes, when he headed in an Aramburu cross, and which brought the only joy to the San Sebastian fans, who returned from Rome with the bad news of the attacks the day before in the streets of the city. city and the result of the match on the pitch.
