He Espanyol lost a match that they started winning in their visit to the white fiefdom. The Espanyol team was measured Real Madrid in a Santiago Bernabeu bursting. Manolo Gonzalez He opted for a 5-3-2 where the lanes were occupied by Tejero y Romerothe center of the field Jofre, Lozano y Králand the attack Puado y Cheddar. The absence of Suitcase To bring the Moroccan on, he gave a hint of the idea of the parakeet coach: defending from behind and counterattacking with fast players. Jofre y Cheddar They are ideal footballers for that context. In the Real Madrid Vinicius’ absence was notable. The home team started very active and eager to score the first quickly. The white-and-blues, on the other hand, retreated very far back to prevent the fluidity of the Madrid team. Unlike the last matches, on this occasion there was a Espanyol somewhat more conservative and less chameleon-like, both in defence and attack, maintaining the same system (5-3-2), although Manolo, after half an hour, opted (and was right) to move to defending with a clear 4-4-2. In attack, the role of Jofre who occupied interior positions and left the entire right lane to Tejero.
Although the visitors came out well positioned, the talent of the white footballers was difficult to contain and as the minutes passed the chances kept coming. Joan Garcia In the 10th minute he made the first great save of the night after clearing a good shot from Mbappé with his leg. Shortly afterwards, he again prevented the Frenchman from scoring with a very powerful shot from the edge of the area. Güler and Bellingham, among others, also failed to beat the man from the 21st minute. The goalkeeper, in impressive form, was the most outstanding figure in the first half, preventing more than five clear goal-scoring opportunities. On an offensive level, the parakeets did not have much presence beyond a shot from midfield by Puado who almost scored and Jofre’s shot went out for a corner. The score was 0-0 at half-time.
At half time, the perico coach decided to bring on Suitcase (by Cheddar) and as soon as the clash restarted, Espanyol had his two clearest chances from the hands of Carlos Romero y Jofrealthough none of the shots went wide. Madrid immediately responded, but Bellingham and Mbappé found themselves with a sure shot again. Joan GarciaThe goalkeeper would be the protagonist of one of the actions of the match. In the 54th minute, Joanafter collecting a cross from the side, quickly took a goal kick and enabled Jofrewho reached the goal line and sent in a cross that Thibaut Courtois would end up putting into his own goal. 0-1 in favor of the parakeets and Manolo He burst into joy, although the happiness lasted only four minutes. Carlos Romero He lingered inside the area and Bellingham finished off a ball that had escaped him Joan and Carvajal took advantage to equalize the match. After the goal, the locals stepped up the accelerator and began to approach the white and blue goal again and again. Even so, Espanyol did not throw in the towel and Jofrevery active both in attack and defense, had a chance on the counterattack that Courtois cleared.
The final stretch began to seem long for the visitors who, despite defending well, saw how the individual talent of the Madrid attackers created more and more danger. That’s how the 2-1 came about. An excellent cross from Vinicius with the outside of the box was taken advantage of by Rodrygo to turn the score around. Manolo Gonzalez He moved the bench with the aim of going higher and trying to bring the score back to level, but it was precisely in an attempt by Espanyol to go on the attack that the Merengues decided. A new player Watery He lost a ball in the midfield that Mbappé took advantage of to counterattack and set up Vinicius, who scored the 3-1. With the match already without much history, Carlos Romero He was a rookie and committed a very avoidable penalty on Endrick: he grabbed him outside the area and let him fall inside. Mbappé, from the penalty spot, made it 4-1. With this result, the three-match unbeaten streak of a perico team ended, which, despite moving ahead on the scoreboard, was unable to maintain its advantage. Espanyol will return to the RCD Stadium next Thursday 26th (at 7pm) to face Villarreal in what will be the seventh matchday of La Liga.
Technical Sheet
Espanyol:Alejo Veliz, Gragera, Irvin Cardona, Alvaro Aguado and Pere Milla also played.
Real Madrid: Thibaut Courtois, Daniel Carvajal, Aurelien Tchouaméni, Éder Militao, Fran García, Luka Modric, Fede Valverde, Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo Goes, Arda Guler, Kylian Mbappé. Vinicius, Lucas Vazquez, Rüdiger, Endrick also played.
Goals: 0-1 (54′) Jofre Carreras; 1-1 (58′) Daniel Carvajal; 2-1 (74′) Rodrygo.; 3-1 (78′) Vinicius; 4-1 Mbappé (88′).
Arbitrator: Munuera Montero.
Cards: Pol Lozano (9′), Joan García (73′) and Carlos Romero (88′). The home side were Mbappé (31′), Fede Valverde (62′), Bellingham (81′) and Vinicius (81′).
Estadio: Santiago Bernabeu.
