(ESP-ENG) Un derby manchado!

Hello friends, good vibes to all.

Fuente!

Yesterday afternoon/evening was the first derby of the season in the Spanish capital, a rivalry that although many do not consider it as such, is one of those that most generate clashes and something to talk about in Spanish soccer and, why not, in European soccer. Real Madrid arrived at the Metropolitano, a stadium which has always been somewhat hostile to the Whites thanks to the south bar of the ultras who yesterday returned to do their thing. These issues unfortunately go beyond sports and generate a lot of debate, one that can be summed up in a single question: whose fault is it, who provokes and who is the attacked? - Yesterday these two questions had different answers, depending on the lens through which you look at it, of course.

Both clubs went into the match knowing that Barcelona had lost against Osasuna, which represented an opportunity to take points off the table. Both were also undefeated and in the previous seven games they did not know what it was to lose, so the performance was more or less similar. The Merengues were without Mbappé, while the Red and Whites had almost their full squad, so it was expected to be a close and hard-fought match. The first half was very rustic and surprisingly even, the chances came for both sides, the clearest for Cholo's team was in the boots of Julián Álvarez, because Sørloth was a ghost who was wandering around the area making bad decisions, the Argentine had a one-on-one with Courtois which the Frenchman won and on the part of Ancelotti's team it was a shot from half distance by Valverde which demanded more from Oblak.

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In those first 45 minutes Madrid had slightly more initiative even though I didn't see Bellingham very comfortable, he works more and better near the box and not in the position where he is almost on par with Valverde and Modric, when he is “released” he can be more efficient. And as I said the Norwegian striker was not effective at all, he did not play a good game while he was on the pitch. The second half started and here we saw a change in intentionality. Atletico looked much more incisive and with more forward pressure, Cholo with his changes turned the game around, which Madrid did not. Militao's goal came after a dubious foul on Vinicius, personally I think that if he didn't whistle it, nothing would have happened but the referee decided to whistle. As a result of this, the play that would see the white center back score and subsequently the whole altercation with the public was generated.

Almost 20 minutes the match was stopped after lighters rained down near Courtois' goal. This is where we return to the previous questions. The Frenchman was seen provoking on that side of the stands when the goal was scored, it must be understood that for the Atletico fan Courtois is a traitor to the shield. These “provocations” were answered by what was said before. Everything was a mixture of events: the dubious foul, the people who have it in for Vinicius (rightly and wrongly), the provocation, the Atletico ultra fans who are not little lambs either (it's not the first time they have been the talk of the town); the Metropolitano was a pressure cooker. But for me the most Dantesque thing is that Simeone himself and several red and white players had to go to mediate with some masked guys to ask for calm. This is food for thought.

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Fortunately, the mood calmed down a bit and the game could resume. In the last 20 minutes it was a bit more of the same, Atletico put Madrid on the ropes and did not make any changes. I still don't understand why Guler is not getting minutes, Modric didn't have a bad game but he is not ready to play 80 minutes. Yesterday Ancelotti didn't want to win the game, that's my impression, because of the late changes and the nature of them. The colchoneros, on the other hand, did revolutionize the game and thanks to the changes made by the coach, Correa scored the goal, again the Argentine saved the team with an almost agonizing goal in stoppage time. In the end, a point distribution that helps no one, only Barcelona smiled relieved to see that they could not deduct more points.

In the end it could have been a beautiful spectacle had it not been for a few misfits who dirtied the sport. Provocations have always existed and will continue to be a part of soccer, but the question is how we react to them. The public, the players, who are the real villains of this story, will there be a way to prevent these things from happening? - I leave it to you in the comments.

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Well my people that's all for today, I hope you liked it.
¡Hugs to all, see you next time!

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