José Mourinho’s new Madrid, which seeks to fit all its stars together, was rescued at its debut and at the limit by Carlos Espí. This 1.94-meter tall and 21-year-old forward, a classic striker, scraped a ball inside the area in the 90th minute, made space, and came to the rescue of the Whites, saved against Espanyol by a newcomer after a night with very little brightness in the game.
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For much of the session, Mou’s Madrid looked too much like the previous ones. Getting ahead quickly helped little or nothing. They went from more to less and barely threatened in the second half despite the urgency of the score. They faced a good Espanyol, firm and threatening in the first half, and well closed in the final stretch. Their goalkeeper Dmitrovic stopped Mbappé and defended with great order until Espí’s appearance.
Faced with the sluggishness in the game and the classic lack of fluidity, Mou’s response was to accumulate a platoon of attackers (Bellingham, Vinicius, Diomande, Mbappé, and Espí), and dispense with his two best feet to organize, first Arda Güler and then Bernardo Silva. The only escape was found by Espí in an evening that showed another very limited version of Vini.
Mourinho did not delay and at the first opportunity released the Bellingham-Vinicius-Mbappé trident, whose tactical fit, as he warned on Friday, will not be easy. Those who did wait their turn on the wing were Yan Diomande and Marc Cucurella. Bellingham started like in the World Cup, hammering inside the area. Güler crossed and the Englishman hooked it over the top amid a swarm of players.
The early 0-1 unsettled Espanyol for a while, who made some losses and were exposed in several Madrid counterattack options, but that did not set a trend nor help the Whites to have a quiet night. Quite the opposite. Manolo González’s men overcame their crisis, adjusted better, and began to control the match against a team that was losing composure.
The coexistence of Bellingham and Güler did not push the Turk to the right, as might have been expected, but the small attacking midfielder appeared in central areas to try to organize. He looked active, although his team was losing pace. The lead deflated them more than it boosted them. Riedel and Roberto Fernández had a double chance shortly before Cala’s equalizer at half an hour.
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The play of the 1-1 exposed a Madrid with suspicious holes at the back. They defended the area with several men, but no one was able to catch Cala’s arrival from behind, who finished alone the pass from Javi Hernández. And it was not the only time before halftime that a Perico player broke into the Merengue ranch alone. It also happened with Dolan just before the break, although he did not head a cross when he had Courtois two meters away.
Dmitrovic’s saves
Madrid had entered a swampy zone of doubts. Güler tried, Bernardo Silva did not appear, Vinicius got lost again in his usual scuffles with opponents, and the only one who threatened was Mbappé, stopped twice by Dmitrovic’s legs, very quick to take away two balls that could well have ended inside.
The first scene of the restart was no different from how the first half ended. Cala had a volley from the edge that was not easy, but it added to Madrid’s defensive doubts. On the other coast, Dmitrovic was still shining. Bellingham caught another aerial ball that Güler again put in, and the local goalkeeper made another great save.
With the night bogged down for Madrid, Mou gave Diomande and Cucurella some playtime. The move meant sacrificing Güler, and left the four key pieces up front (Vini, Jude, Kylian, and the acquisition from Leipzig), to which Espí later joined. With the tide rising, Madrid only produced a shot that hit the post by Valverde, until Espí broke through the fog and resolved a debut that was too complicated for the Whites.
| Standings | PT | PJ | PG | PE | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Standings | PT | PJ | PG | PE | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
