Before attacking Chelsea, the amphitheater held an act of communion with his most needy son, Fede Valverde, suddenly the protagonist of his most turbulent week. Four days after being denounced at the police station for punching Alex Baena in the face, the Bernabeu cradled him, understanding more the reasons he gave for his outburst of anger (the Villarreal player allegedly mocked his son) than twisting the gesture for such an intemperate reaction. Nor was anything else expected. Already when he withdrew from the warm-up, he had to raise his arm as a thank you to the staff. But just in the seconds before the initial whistle, the stands broke into an ovation shouting his name in chorus. The scene was not brief or formal, but rather an act of support, to which the Uruguayan responded with applause and his hand to his chest.
2
Courtois, Eder Militao, Alaba, Camavinga (Rudiger, min. 71), Dani Carvajal, Modric (Dani Ceballos, min. 81), Federico Valverde, Kroos (Aurelien Tchouameni, min. 84), Benzema, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo (Marco Asensio, min 70)
0
Arrizabalaga, Thiago Silva (Mason Mount, min. 75), Koulibaly (Cucurella, min. 54), Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Kovacic, Enzo Jeremias Fernandez, Kante (Conor Gallagher, min. 75), Ben Chilwell, João Felix ( Trevoh Chalobah, min. 65) and Sterling (Kai Havertz, min. 65)
goals 1-0 min. 21: Benzema. 2-0 min. 73: Marco Asensio.
Referee Francois Letexier
Yellow cards Wesley Fofana (min. 5), Camavinga (min. 7), Eder Militao (min. 83), Dani Carvajal (min. 86) and Kovacic (min. 87)
red cards Ben Chilwell (min. 58)
It was the prelude to a convincing display by Madrid and also by the Uruguayan, who left a couple of aimless long shots (one went up and the other came out centered) and, above all, a portion of energetic and poignant football. His goal counter stopped a long time ago compared to the start of the course; Yesterday his mark was in his classic catalog, with his classic dynamic game to steal, raise lines and threaten up, even if it was without much focus against the rival goal. “He was the best in the field,” said Carlo Ancelotti. “He put a lot of energy and was very attentive to the pressure. He handled the defensive aspect well with Kroos and he was spectacular in the recovery”, added the Italian about Valverde, who ended the evening as the Real Madrid player with the most interventions (93). One of them, at game time, marked the beginning of the end for Chelsea, the action that finished mowing down Lampard’s crew. He filtered a through pass for Rodrygo who, when he was already focusing on Kepa, Chilwell was brought down, sent off directly.
A year ago, the cross against Chelsea marked his debut in a very specific position and very much his, lying on the right to do everything: help behind, cement the middle and click up. He became a kind of balancing and correcting factor for the rest. The trial got such good results that it took root there. Actually, until a week ago, since Ancelotti insisted on starting with Rodrygo up front and he returned to his original position in midfield.
Benzema’s seventh goal in 10 days
Since the incident last Saturday, Valverde has remained rigorously publicly silent about what happened in the Bernabeu car park with Baena. The environment of him and his partner, Mina Bonino, has spoken for him. This Wednesday, he limited himself to talking on the pitch. The Uruguayan vindicated himself with football in the midst of his darkest nights personally, while Karim Benzema continued his spring flowering. He anticipated Ancelotti that the last stoppage of selections had been great for him, definitively exiled from Deschamps’ France, and reality has spoken since then of a clear rebound: by goals and also by game. In his long winter, the Frenchman not only lacked so many. Perhaps the least thing the weight lacked were targets. His absence in many sections of his association football was the main informer of his gray days. His deployment against Chelsea, especially until the break, again showed a good Benzema.
He added his seventh goal in 10 days in April. He warmed up his legs with a hat-trick against Valladolid, he sated himself at the Camp Nou with another hat trick (for the first time he linked two consecutive) and opened the fuse against the group blue. Carvajal put the ball into the pot, Vinicius extended in the air and he finished off. His 90th goal in the Champions League in 149 games and, above all, his 21st goal in the last 21 European qualifying games. For the first time, the group stage had closed it to zero, but at the point in the tournament where the safe path turns into a rocky gorge, Karim has said present. Without being the brightest against Liverpool, he has already scored three of the six white attempts. With Chelsea, he lit the scoring.
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Source: EL PAIS
