Madrid hits and lets itself be hit

It's almost impossible to find out when Madrid is dead and when it's partying. It was easy to confuse in Vallecas, where he jumped from one state of mind to another, from one state of attitude to anotherto reach a draw that this Sunday could take them away from Barça and leave them behind Atlético. Rayo had the double merit of starting in a big way and not softening in the face of Madrid's comeback. The point was won. And Ancelotti's team made a mistake twice: they went out for grapes and didn't know how to finish the job after hitting the ball in a tremendously played game, a gift for the public. Ancelotti's team maintains the goal, but has lost control and authority.

There was no need to wait to find out that It was an action shoot.. Arda Güler already tried to score from a center kick, an occurrence, and before four minutes Lightning was already ahead. It was a classic poorly defended play. De Frutos, a white youth player, made Fran García dizzy from his winger position to his natural leg and his cross to the far post Unai López finished it across the net. A headed goal from a 1.69-meter-tall midfielder, all data that reflected a neglect of duties in Madrid, especially in its midfielders, who forgot about the blind spot.

And the party invited us to pay attention to all the danger signs: Cold night, rival enlarged by the full crowd, small field, casualties and the end in sight. It is common, in cases like this, for an intercontinental duel to make us forget another inter-neighborhood one.

The abandonment and the reaction

The truth is that Rayo came out firing, to take advantage of the surprise factor. It is an irregular team. Their bands are musical, even without Álvaro García, whom Iñigo Pérez left on the bench, and their finishers are badass. Nteka, starter this time, and Camello are two battering rams, but theirs is the only position where working a lot and scoring little is frowned upon. In the midst of the outbreak of La Franja, De Frutos had the second. He put his foot so low that the ball could have ended up in the Teniente Muñoz Díaz alley.

Madrid seemed like a fool. Ancelotti had repeated with Tchouameni as central defender, solution for two problems: it gives use to a very expensive signing and it takes him out of the center of the field, where he has seemed like one of many. That has made Asencio's regency very brief. The Madrid youth team, more than banging on the door, needs to jump over barbed wire to step into the first team.

The Italian had also saved Vinicius for Qatar, a decision that, added to the loss of Mbappé, meant losing 25 of the team's 48 goals in the course in one fell swoop, although the two points would not be left out there. The attack was reduced to two playmakers, Bellingham and Güler, and two forwards more inspired than repetition. Especially Rodrygo, which is Scottish shower: fire and ice. More of the second this season, more of the first in Vallecas. His was the first chance for this gray Madrid like his shirt. Batalla took his shot from no angle. And his was the play in which Madrid came closest to tying. His low cross crossed the area until it reached Lucas Vázquez, who returned it to the penalty spot and there Güler, in a forced position, took the goal away from Bellingham.

And from one regret to another. Rayo scored the second goal from a corner, an issue that fills those who concede it with blame. Mumin headed in at the far post to square Madrid's aerial negligence. And suddenly, out of nowhere, an oxygen bottle, a shot from 20 meters by Valverde for 2-1. It's hard to stop because it's hard to see. It's not a falcon, it's a cannon. And before the break, the second appearance, by Bellingham, employee of the month, to score a cross header and achieve an express tie. From many of these, Madrid comes out like this: iron fist when the kid glove fails.

Isi's foot

The white goals were not a consequence but a cause. After scoring them the team improved, reason enough for Íñigo Pérez brought in a great starter: Álvaro García. But by then Madrid had already recovered the connection, and from commanding the game, based on the touch, they went on to command the scoreboard, with a goal from Rodrygo, the player of the match. He hit a good left foot that a touch on Ratiu turned into a great one. The ball entered the square.

The Rayo coach continued making headlines (Óscar Valentín, Camello) to change the meaning of a game that had become cloudy, but it became clear again. It was the product of an ambiguous ball. Lejeune, a central defender with a steel leg, shot at the center of the goal, but Isi put his toe in to convert it into an assist and disconcert Courtois and return the tie to the match. Vinicius had just arrived at the crash, a maneuver that had a borderline response: double side, Balliu plus Ratiu. He arrived as a quick-load player: he earned a yellow card and Mumin gave him a penalty that Martínez Munera did not see, an excusable fact, and the VAR did not want to see it, an unforgivable fact.

The match, which belonged to Madrid, was no longer that way. It is true that Batalla took the victory from Vinicius, but before that Pedro Díaz and then Lejeune also had the fourth. That was the game, a fantastic up and down that ended where it started, but that deserved the sellout in Vallecas.

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