After Girona’s victory on Saturday afternoon on the Osasuna pitch (4-2), Real Madrid had to win this weekend to regain their place as leader of La Liga, after beating their sworn enemy , FC Barcelona. The opportunity then presented itself this Sunday evening at the Santiago-Bernabéu against neighbor Rayo Vallecano, undefeated since mid-September, for the 12th day of La Liga. Alongside recent Kopa Trophy winner Jude Bellingham, Carlo Ancelotti put his faith in his 2018 Ballon d’Or, Luka Modric, as well as Joselu alongside Vinicius Jr.
From the first minutes of the match, the Merengues quickly put pressure on their evening opponent, but were narrow in the last move. As evidenced by the breakthrough of Federico Valverde in the opposing defense, but the Uruguayan lost his face-to-face against Dimitrievski (6th). The Macedonian goalkeeper, tracked by Barça last season, was always vigilant in front of his line to witness the numerous off-target attempts by the Madrid attackers, from Vinicius to Fran Garcia via Joselu, who was too imprecise in front of him (38th).
The silent Merengues
After a lively first act in Madrid, but without the slightest net shaken by the leather, the Mister’s flock continued their repeated assaults in the last third of the Vallecas formation, but the missing ingredient, efficiency, still did not his appearance. Real Madrid finally thought they would open the score thanks to Vinicius Jr, served by Joselu from the chest following a good opening from David Alaba. However, the Spanish striker was in an offside position at the start of the action. An electric atmosphere in the stands… and on the green rectangle.
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Because yes, the temperature rose between the 22 players in the match, between uncontrolled defensive interventions and heated discussions, notably involving Vinicius, warned after a rant against the referee (74th). The Brazilian striker then got into trouble with Dimitrievski, who fell to the ground to save time for his team. Despite several chances in the last quarter of an hour, coming from Alaba’s header (87th) or Rodrygo’s backheel (90+3rd), Real missed the opportunity to take first place in the standings in Girona after 12 days.
