An Another Defeat For Zidane's Team
Real Madrid welcomed Villarreal and failed to win, losing even 1-0! A new bad result that may drop even more Merengues in the standings.
Beautiful Liga poster in this Saturday afternoon of the 19th day of the championship, since Real Madrid hosted Villarreal in his lair of Santiago Bernabéu. Only four points separated the Merengues, fourth, Yellow Submarine, sixth. Real Madrid side, there were still some absent like Sergio Ramos or Karim Benzema, but the eleven holder looked great. Villarreal side, Javi Calleja traded his usual 4-4-2 diamond for a 4-2-3-1, and he had to make some changes, however, as the tenure of Bonera instead of Victor Ruiz, while Raba was entry-line, new rookie Roger Martinez not in the group. And in the end, if the victory was imperative for the locals, the Yellow won by 1-0!
The meeting began at a rather slow pace, in the rain that fell hard on the Spanish capital. Both teams were in place but struggling technically. Real Madrid managed to clear some paths to the Villarreal area, but was missing in the last move. But little by little, the match was racing. It was Marcelo who offered the first opportunity to leave with a nice shot from outside the area, but Asenjo responded present (18th). Behind, Cristiano Ronaldo executed a free-kick that - after being diverted by the wall - crashed on the bar (23rd). Fornals distilled a caviar for Bacca, but Nacho intervened at the very last moment to prevent the Colombian to resume in front of Navas (28th)!
Ronaldo didn't score.. Again
Merengue assaults continued, and CR7 sent the ball into the net (31 '). The locals had many situations, but did not fit, too clumsy in front of the cages. And when it was framed, Asenjo answered present, as on this shot from close range of Cristiano Ronaldo (45th)! Villarreal could therefore be happy to return to the locker room with a score of 0-0, and only Rodri managed to pull out of the game, imperial in front of his defense. As soon as the locker room came back, the freshly entered Cheryshev was missing the setting for very little. The visitors had returned to a different tone, more aggressive and ambitious than in the first period. And when he was asked, Asenjo was always decisive, as on this volley of Kroos (52).
In front, Carlos Bacca, despite some balloons exploitable in the last meters, also lacked address. After the hour of play, the meeting was very open, and seemed to be able to switch on both sides, even if both formations also hit the shot physically. The changes made by the two coaches did not change much. Modric, in the surface, was dispatching the leather just above the bar of the cages defended by Asenjo (80th). And while all Real Madrid pushed, on a counterattack led by Cheryshev and a shot from Enes Unal diverted by Navas, Fornals recovered the ball and sent it to the bottom (0-1, 87)! With this defeat, Real Madrid may end up at 19 points of Barça in case of a Catalan victory, in addition to Villarreal return to a small point! We can already talk about crisis in Madrid!
First victory in Villarreal's history on Santiago Bernabeu's field.. Bad time for Ronaldo's teammate.