Real Madrid sealed their qualification for the Champions League round of 16 with a comfortable victory (a draw was enough) at the Bernabéu over a Braga team that was as spirited as it was innocent. For Madrid it was a game without Bellingham, which Ancelotti included in the squad but reserved for Saturday due to the shoulder dislocation he suffered against Rayo. Life without Bellingham seemed hard, but in the end it wasn't that bad. Braga lasted half an hour, until they received the first goal. Instead of the Englishman, Brahim played, who scored and was the man of the match.
The absence of the Englishman was not the only thing that Ancelotti's team had to overcome. Kepa was going to play but a few minutes before the start, in the warm-up, he went to the locker room due to muscle discomfort in his right leg. We'll see if Friday enters Luis de la Fuente's list.
Lunin was the improvised goalkeeper, since he had not played since the Basque signed. Questioned so many times, the Ukrainian could not have made a better appearance in the eleven again. After four minutes he made a great stop by stopping a penalty taken by Djaló, a maximum penalty committed due to Lucas Vázquez grabbing Bruma. The Galician side had a nervous and very insecure start.
The absence of Bellingham finally allowed Brahim to be given minutes, who with his performance left Ancelotti quite badly off, until now very little keen on giving the Malaga player opportunities.
Brahim moved with ease along the entire front of the attack. He opened the scoring in the 27th minute with a good left foot shot after a great pass from Rodrygo. Brahim had already scored earlier, after twelve minutes, but his goal had been disallowed due to a prior foul by Vinícius. Upon scoring, Brahim celebrated by making the VAR gesture.
The goal against affected Braga's game, which clearly seemed to lose steam and ended up defending around its goalkeeper, already forgetting any offensive initiative.
The night did not start well for Vinícius. The Brazilian tried in every way in the first half but he was in a version that was quite out of tune. He rushed the play too many times and almost always had the last dribble left over. When he had to attend he didn't do well either. He exasperated the Bernabéu so much that the stands whistled at him in several actions, something that had not happened for these payments for several years with a player who had been forgiving of all his excesses. Then, when he scored, the whistles turned into applause and the young crowd chanted his name.
The second half began as the first ended, with Madrid focused on the Braga area. Brahim had a double shot to make it 2-0 but Matheus avoided it with a sensational save.
From there Braga dissolved like sugar. Vinícius and Rodrygo combusted and finished off the rival in three minutes. Vinícius scored in the 58th and Rodrygo in the 61st, the latter chipping the ball over Matheus for a great goal. Madrid did not need more. They are already in the round of 16 and with a draw against Naples they already secure first place. If they lose, Union Berlin would have the chance to win in Germany.
