Madrid entered the territory without Vinicius, sanctioned for accumulation of cards and author of almost everything in the white team in recent weeks. Of the demand, the debate and the attack. He had scored six goals in the four recent games. So against Athletic, the left, his place on the field, was inherited by Rodrygo. That band had been his place of training and growth in Brazil until, a year before arriving at Madrid (he signed in 2019), the Bernabéu offices recommended that he also try out for the right because the left-hand side was Vini’s thing. and, then also, from Hazard.
2
Andriy Lunin, Nacho, Dani Carvajal (Eder Militao, min. 92), Rüdiger, Ferland Mendy, Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde (Lucas Vázquez, min. 80), Jude Bellingham, Kroos (Camavinga, min. 81), Brahim Diaz ( Joselu, min. 71) and Rodrygo (Modric, min. 81)
0
Julen Agirrezabala, Aitor Paredes, De Marcos (Yuri, min. 57), Lekue, Yeray (Daniel Vivian, min. 25), O. Sancet (Muniain, min. 76), Benat Prados (Ruiz de Galarreta, min. 57) , Berenguer, Vesga, Williams and Guruzeta (Malcom Adu, min. 57)
Goals 1-0 min. 7: Rodrygo. 2-0 min. 73: Rodrygo.
Referee Javier Alberola Rojas
Yellow cards Aurelien Tchouameni (min. 56), Nacho (min. 70) and Ruiz de Galarreta (min. 86)
Against the red and whites, Rodrygo recovered his natural position on a night in which the spotlight was especially on him. Not so much because of that move, but because Vini was missing and in the last 18 games he had only scored three minor goals: 0-3 against Arandina in the Cup, 4-1 against Barça in the Super Cup final and the 4 -0 to Girona. Since December 17, against Villarreal, a goal with great influence on the result had not been scored. And in the seven most recent dates, he came away dry. But against Athletic, the evening was his, in the heat of his left wing.
“It has made a difference. It is what he does and what he has to do,” analyzed Carlo Ancelotti, who also referred to the left-footed position. “They will say that today (yesterday) he played on the left, but for me Rodrygo is good everywhere. He scored two goals from the right in a Champions League semi-final,” the coach recalled. At the beginning of the season, the footballer had also complained that he did not play in his place. And, somehow he remembered it again yesterday: “It’s true that there (left) I do it better. The team’s style always favors those who play on the left. He has come out very well and I want to do it on the right as well,” he stated.
In contrast to the plain football with which the duel began, Rodrygo started with a categorical right hand that he prescribed by heart. He received a counterattack, lying on his left foot, drew the diagonal and whipped the long post. It was a bit capicua because he opened the white counter on August 12 in San Mamés and did the same at the Bernabéu seven months later. That big shot in Bilbao seemed to inaugurate a straight course for the Brazilian, but no. Throughout the campaign, the attacker has followed his usual gusty trajectory. After that summer goal, he played 11 blindfold matches, which were increasingly frustrating for him. He spent a couple of months, between October and December, in which he scored nine goals almost in one go, but after the grapes he returned to the gray areas. During that fertile period, he also occupied the left of Vinicius, injured at the time, in some duels, although the new scoring slowdown had more to do with his gusty nature than with his location. In the last seven crashes without success, in three of them he left without taking a shot on goal (Leipzig, Rayo and Valencia). Against Athletic, the first, to the bag.
Carletto downplayed the streaks, saying that only a select few like Cristiano or Benzema always score, but he did admit that this is a point to grow. “With experience, this aspect will improve. He plays with a lot of intensity, and because he is young I ask him for a lot of work and sometimes he is not fresh in front of goal,” the Italian excused him. After the pause, Rodrygo closed the intrigue.
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