Real Maadrid made their debut tonight in the League with a hard-fought victory in Almería after coming back from Ramazani's goal in the second half with goals from Lucas Vázquez and Alaba, who scored a free kick on the first ball he touched.
Carlo Ancelotti never misleads when he announces something. He assured that he was going to rotate more than last season and revolutionized the eleven with five changes compared to the European Super Cup, changes that affected the midfield and the defense and that did not sit well with the team.
The first part was a nightmare for Madrid. He conceded a goal very early, after six minutes, in Almería's first and only approach in the first half and then he didn't know how to attack a well-established defense. Madrid had chances because they shot a lot but they shot very badly.
This is the problem that Madrid has to solve every year in the League. Of the 19 rivals, except for three or four (Barcelona, Seville, Villarreal...) the rest plant the bus confident of maintaining the 0-0 and they already have the Grand Prize if they catch a goal in a counterattack by then lock down the game as it is, accumulating the whole team around the goalkeeper.
In Madrid little worked in the first part. The central pair Militao-Alaba gave way to Nacho-Rüdiger and the German missed the first goal, a great pass from Eguaras on Ramazani that he defined very well against Courtois.
From then on, Madrid had to row against the swell, as they don't like it. His attacks to find a gap were via Vinícius, who overwhelmed Chumi several times, a central defender converted into a winger by Rubi due to the state of need of the Andalusian squad.
When a team plays badly, those who are not are always missing. In the last ten years, in the cases in which Madrid does not produce good football and Modric is not on the field, things seem clear. Without the Croatian, the person in charge yesterday of supplying him was Camavinga, with Tchouaméni playing Casemiro. From the Bermuda Triangle, as Ancelotti calls them, there was only Toni Kroos.
Before such a withdrawn opponent, Madrid was a predictable team for a long time, not very vertical, except when Vinícius did damage on his band. He found some clear shots to the Brazilian's centers, but Valverde shot with more power than placement and Benzema had a couple of clear chances, but he was flawed in the definition. Fernando had a couple of good saves and Lucas Vázquez had a goal disallowed for offside. Madrid was killed throwing corner kicks without effectiveness.
Ancelotti saw the panorama ugly and took advantage of the break to put Modric in place of Camavinga. In the 58th minute he tried to win a shot giving Hazard entry for Tchouaméni, another one who did not have a brilliant debut.
The recomposition of the team brought dividends to Madrid right away. He equalized in minute 61 when Lucas Vázquez resolved a melee after a move initiated by Vinícius and a rebound by Fernando.
The 1-1 was a slab for Almería, who began to fall physically. Rubi introduced changes to refresh his team but the decisive one was Alaba for Mendy. The Austrian entered in the 75th minute, when Madrid was preparing to take out a dangerous foul that they had done to Modric. Alaba asked Kroos for the ball and placed it on a post and inside. The 1-2 killed the game. Almería pressed the last minutes, but Madrid held on without too many problems. Three points with more efficiency than brilliance. This football thing also goes ex officio.
