Real Madrid is no longer coming back. Neither the games nor, it is beginning to seem, the season. The draw against Girona leaves, as so many times this season, a deeper feeling than the result itself, that of a team that has three consecutive setbacks – two in the League and one in the Champions League, the worst streak of the season – and that, in mid-April, sees the season slipping away without remedy. One last shot left. The one on Wednesday in Munich. But the feeling right now is that the comeback is more of a wish than a real possibility.
Real Madrid 1-1 Girona LaLiga Summary
The context of the match on the eve of going to the Allianz invited something more. The lineup that Arbeloa proposed as a dress rehearsal to face Bayern had enough names to think about the feat: Vinicius, Mbappé, Bellingham, Valverde, Militao… But football once again remembered that it is not about gathering talent, but about making it work. And no one has achieved it for a long time. Neither Ancelotti, nor Xabi Alonso, nor Arbeloa.
Madrid had a moment. Just twenty minutes at the beginning of the second half in which he seemed to get closer, thanks to Valverde, to what he was supposed to do. It was played with a little more rhythm, a little more intention, a certain feeling of control. It was a short mirage.
The final stretch returned the most worrying image, that of almost the entire season. That of a broken team, split in two, without structure or continuity. Closer to granting than to building, more attentive to individual impulses than to a collective plan. That’s where the game went and, now, LaLiga. Munich appears as the last bullet, but also as a maximum requirement for a team that has 45 very hard days ahead if there is no achievement in the Champions League.
Carvajal is not so bad
It could be thought, due to his lack of minutes, that Dani Carvajal is no longer able to play for Madrid, but his match against Girona debunks this theory. He started and responded with a more than serious match, without fanfare but with the usual reliability. He delivered at the back, gave a start when he had to and, above all, left the feeling that he is still competitive for this level. Enough for more than one to wonder if he should not be ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold in an event as demanding as Munich.
The problem for the captain is another. Álvaro Arbeloa does not fully see him fully and, barring surprise, will bet on the Englishman against Bayern. A decision that responds more to a question of current physical condition than to an abysmal difference in performance, because what has been seen invites us to think that the distance between the two is not as great as the minutes reflect.
Always Valverde
Madrid once again relied on Valverde, although this time it was not enough for them to get past the draw against Girona. With the score at 0-0, the Uruguayan was one of the few things that shook up the game in the second half. He scored with one of his powerful shots – with the help of Gazzaniga – and for several minutes it seemed like he could push the team towards something more. He began to appear in different areas, to provide continuity and to support Madrid in its best stretch. But it stayed at that, a specific impulse. The team failed to maintain that pace or translate it into a definitive advantage, and the match ended in a draw.
Valverde’s goal (1-0) in Real Madrid 1-1 Girona
All in all, and in a context in which Vinicius and Mbappé are always looked at, the feeling is that the most constant remains Valverde. Even on a day when it wasn’t enough to win.
Lemar, of big nights
Lemar has three goals this season: Sevilla, Barça and Real Madrid. The French player is not a bad choice, of whom we are not going to ask at this point for the consistency that he has lacked throughout his career. But at the Bernabéu, Lemar played well and also scored a great goal. He took advantage of the meters that the Madrid players left him, who took a while to come out of the cave to close the space, and created an impossible shot for Lunin. The Ukrainian, who is getting every goal scored, is not lucky…
Lemar’s goal (1-1) in Real Madrid 1-1 Girona
What will Mbappé think?
Munich appears as one of those nights that define stories and perhaps trajectories. Also for Mbappé, who faces Wednesday’s game with a question that is difficult to avoid: what can a second season without titles mean for a club like Madrid? It is not just a collective issue. In your case, it is also personal. He arrived to make a difference and, until now, the context and the project have not been with him. His goals, many, do not go hand in hand with titles. Although it may be unfair, on Wednesday all eyes will be on him. The toll of being the best.
The referees still don’t interpret the game…
The referees continue to cling to the manual, as if football were a laboratory sport and not a game that is better understood with common sense than with regulations in hand. And so, of course, the footballers despair. Because Mbappé bordered on the absurd: yellow for protesting a foul that arose from an action in which he had gotten rid of two rivals with a simple arm. Meanwhile, on the other side, Arnau elbows Fran García and leaves without a hitch. No card, no explanation, no logic.
Real Madrid claimed a penalty on Mbappé in the 88th minute
The infraction against the Frenchman is a symptom of something more worrying, that of an interpretation of the game that seems disconnected from reality. As if now you had to run with your arms close to your body, asking permission for each contact. And therein lies the real problem. Football, little by little, is forgetting that it is a contact sport.
At least they got the shirt right.
On the retro day of LaLiga, the referees traveled to the 94 World Cup in the United States. It was the first time that the referees left aside black to switch to colors. So, adidas created a pink, yellow and black collection. The latter, with small paintings, was the one that Alberola Rojas chose for Real Madrid-Girona.
