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Fresh off their Champions League success against Manchester City, Real Madrid traveled to Atletico Madrid to fulfill their La Liga commitment on Sunday night (8 May).
Having already won the Spanish top-flight title, Los Blancos did not have much on the line in the match, and that reflected on the starting XI. Carlo Ancelotti made plenty of changes and was handed a 1-0 defeat for it. Yannick Carrasco’s first-half penalty served as the winning goal for the home team.
Ancelotti’s much-changed team looked off-balance from the first moment, which allowed Atletico to put them under pressure. Inside the opening 10 minutes, Angel Correa and Carrasco had decent opportunities to put the hosts ahead.
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In the final third of the first half, Los Rojiblancos won a penalty following Jesus Vallejo’s foul on Matheus Cunha. Carrasco stepped up and put it away to give his side the lead. In the 45th minute, Toni Kroos became the first Los Blancos player to threaten Atletico’s goal, with his fine effort drifting narrowly wide.
In the 77th minute, Carrasco saw his effort ram against the post, giving Madrid enough incentive to push for an equalizer in the closing stages. Their best chance came in the 88th minute, when Nacho rose to meet Vinicius Junior’s cross, but the Spaniard couldn’t keep his effort on target. Had Karim Benzema been there, the outcome could have been a lot different on Sunday.
On that note, here are five Los Blancos players who failed to live up to their billing in their first league defeat to Atletico in six years.
#5 Jesus Vallejo
With David Alaba still recovering from an injury and Ferland Mendy rested, Jesus Vallejo got a rare start for Real Madrid. Unfortunately, he directly contributed to their downfall by giving away a penalty in the first half.
In the 36th minute, Matheus Cunha baited Vallejo and the Spaniard could not help but fall into the trap. Cunha went down easily, but there was certain contact by the centre-back, which caused the referee (with the aid of the VAR) to point to the spot.
The referee also showed him a yellow card for his challenge on Cunha. Carrasco took the resulting penalty and comfortably beat Andriy Lunin in the Real goal.
Vallejo also lost five duels, ceded possession 13 times, committed one more foul and misplaced seven long balls.
#4 Lucas Vazquez
With Daniel Carvajal given the day off, Lucas Vazquez filled in for him against Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Sunday night. The Spaniard, as always, was faultless when it came to work rate, but he was no match for an in-form Yannick Carrasco.
The Belgian skipped past him on a number of occasions and Vazquez did not know how to respond. In the 28th minute, he brought down the forward in a dangerous area, which rightfully earned him a booking. Carrasco nearly set up Geoffrey Kondogbia from the resulting free kick.
Against Real Madrid’s crosstown rivals, Vazquez lost six duels, ceded possession 10 times, and misplaced all of his crosses as well as long balls.
#3 Marco Asensio
Marco Asensio technically started on the right flank against Atletico Madrid, but he had a floating role. He drifted inwards, dropped down to midfield, and also hugged the touchline to create opportunities. The Spaniard played four key passes to his teammates, but those were quite easily dealt with by the hosts.
Asensio also did not contribute to Real Madrid’s defense. Lucas Vazquez and Eduardo Camavinga had to work overtime to compensate for his lack of work rate, which, in turn, affected their offensive prowess.
Overall, the Real Madrid forward misplaced three crosses, lost two duels, ceded possession nine times, and committed one foul against Diego Simeone’s men.
#2 Rodrygo
Taking his fine Champions League performances into account, particularly his brace against Manchester City, Rodrygo’s display last night was not up to the mark.
He made some darting runs, contributed to the defense, and created some opportunities, but Atletico Madrid did not allow him to stretch his legs.
Against Los Rojiblancos, Rodrygo was left isolated in the final third and couldn’t register a single shot. He did play two key passes, but the team needed more directness from their budding star.
Rodrygo also lost possession nine times and lost two ground duels against the outgoing La Liga champions.
#1 Luka Jovic
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti decided to give Karim Benzema a much-deserved rest against Atletico Madrid.
Second-choice striker Mariano was set to replace him in the lineup, but the forward unfortunately picked up an injury right before kick-off. With the Dominican Republic international ruled out, Luka Jovic was thrust into the starting XI.
Having not played in La Liga since the second week of February, Jovic was clearly not prepared to take part in a high-intensity clash against Atletico Madrid. As long as he was on the pitch, the point was being painstakingly proven over and over again.
Not only did the Serbian squander two great opportunities but his positioning was also exceptionally poor. He neither came deep to collect the ball nor did he put pressure on Atletico defenders to commit errors.
It was a poor performance by one of Real Madrid’s worst transfers in years. Los Blancos had to shell out €60 million to land Jovic from Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019.
The Serbia international only completed eight passes, lost four of six duels, ceded possession five times and also received a booking.
He was rightfully subbed off by Vinicius Junior in the 61st minute.
