At the epicenter of the earthquake by the Negreira case, Carlo Ancelotti, a man with a well-earned reputation as prudent, left the Camp Nou this Sunday 12 points behind Barcelona and leaving one of those bombs in the air that will take days to deactivate. And less at this time. “We haven’t won because of the offside, which we still have doubts about. We are going to Madrid with doubts”, the Italian coach released about Marco Asensio’s disallowed goal in the 81st minute. The madridistas celebrated for two long minutes of silence at the Camp Nou, which saw the game lost, until the VAR warned De Burgos Bengoetxea of the Balearic’s unregulated position. More wood to the great fire that Spanish football suffers.
It was not a loose phrase from the Reggiolo coach, but a message, which he had already launched before on the microphones of Movistar. “In the World Cup everything was clear with the semi-automatic offside (a technology with cameras allowed us to refine and shorten the decisions), but now I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s offside, I’m not sure”, insisted the Madrid coach.
On the other side, Xavi Hernández, who sat in the same chair five minutes later, said that he did not understand his colleague’s words. “Without VAR it is much more difficult. That’s why I really like VAR, because it ends up being fairer. Above all, in decisions such as offside, which is unavoidable. Here you do not have to interpret, as in the hands. The offside is or is not. That is why I am surprised by Ancelotti today ”, he commented. An arbitration noise that occurs after a game that had the absence of Florentino Pérez in the box.
That target of Asensio’s contention came at the only moment in which Madrid launched the attack in a clash of extreme necessity for the whites given the precariousness with which they went to the classic, with nine points behind. Ancelotti intervened deep midway through the second half, changed the entire midfield (he finished off Ceballos and Tchouameni) and ended the night up front with four: Vinicius, Rodrygo behind Benzema, and Asensio on the right as the protagonist of that final push. However, despite the little offensive footprint in many sections, Ancelotti’s satisfaction with his team’s performance was from start to finish, as he repeated several times.
There were no hitches for theirs. “I am sad, but I leave very proud of my team. We played a complete game from the first minute. We did very well and the coach made very good changes, ”he defended when asked several times if he had not taken too long to move pieces. “The first part was very good”, he assured, “and it seemed absurd to me to change. I did it in the 60th minute to give a new offensive boost. From 70 we had opportunities, we played fast, we scored a goal (in reference to the disallowed) and the game was won. Making the five changes in the 60th minute seems strange to me, ”he pointed out.
In the midst of the complaints, Madrid left 12 points ahead, with 12 games to go, when a lap ago they left the Bernabéu with a victory (3-1), three points ahead and a great feeling of superiority over their rival. Since then, a slow decline, accentuated after the World Cup, and three classics lost in three competitions (final of the Spanish Super Cup, first leg of the Cup semifinals and this Sunday in the League).
What has happened to your team in this round? They asked him as soon as he sat down in the press room. “Simple. They have had more continuity than us (in reference to Barcelona)”, Ancelotti responded very briefly. “After the World Cup, in January it was difficult for us to reach the level we are at now. We are going to end the season well. If we plan the games that remain this year like this, we win something. That’s for sure, ”he predicted later, when a further analysis was required.
His eleven was the same as in the cup duel two weeks ago in Chamartín, in which his team left without shooting on goal. He also repeated regarding Liverpool at home last Wednesday. It is, in reality, their fetén lineup of these times, with the absences of Mendy (he left at the hour of play due to the card) and Alaba (still injured). And almost as a nod to what happened in the last classic of the Castellana, Madrid did not need to shoot between the three sticks to get ahead. He did it on the rebound. Vinicius won the end line and his cross hit Araujo’s head, which left the German goalkeeper like a pillar of salt. The Whites finished the first half with nine shots conceded (Madrid made two) and four saves by Courtois, who even before the rebound goal had gotten a great hand from a Raphinha header.
Sergi Roberto equalized before the break -the key, according to Courtois- and Barça pressed until that final push from Madrid, with the goal disallowed by Asensio that Ancelotti clung to after coming out 12 points behind Barcelona. Three months ahead of the whites in the domestic championship with a more than likely horizon of desert. Again, hanging from Europe, plus the cupbearer dessert again in Barcelona (dragging a 0-1), and this time pointed to the VAR at a very sensitive moment.
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