Between Lille and Amsterdam there are three hours by car and 29 years of distance in the history of Madrid. In the Dutch city, on September 13, 1995, Raúl González became the youngest white player to start in a Champions League match against Ajax (18 years and 78 days); and this Wednesday, in the north of France, Endrick surpassed him in the precocity statistic (18 years and 73 days). What they both did agree on was losing 1-0, but the first did so against the European champion and the South American fell to a team far from the aristocracy that a stunted Madrid barely scratched.
1
Lucas Chevalier, Bafode Diakite, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Alexsandro Ribeiro, Tiago Santos, Mitchel Bakker (Meunier, min. 87), Edon Zhegrova, Andre, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Cabella (Osame Sahraoui, min. 71) and Jonathan David
0
Andriy Lunin, Ferland Mendy (Fran Garcia, min. 45), Eder Militao (Kylian Mbappe, min. 57), Dani Carvajal, Rüdiger, Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde, Jude Bellingham, Camavinga (Arda Guler, min. 67), Vinicius Junior and Endrick
Goals 1-0 min. 47: Jonathan David.
Referee Maurizio Mariani
yellow cards Endrick (min. 46), Camavinga (min. 59), Rüdiger (min. 78), Modric (min. 80), Jonathan David (min. 93) and Bafode Diakite (min. 96)
Not even a man as cold as Andriy Lunin avoided the harsh analysis of what happened: “We lacked aggression, creativity and fighting a little more,” declared the Ukrainian goalkeeper, back in goal after Courtois’ injury and author of two good saves in the first part. Carlo Ancelotti released Modric after the break (due to a Militão showing signs of physical discomfort), Mbappé and Güler, but he couldn’t even find the game and barely forced any chances.
The Italian coach did not spare himself in self-criticism either. “It was difficult for us to enter the game in terms of intensity, duels and clarity of play. It could have been tied because we had chances at the end, but it wasn’t deserved. We have to learn from what we have to improve, which I think is quite clear,” he introduced.
His analysis returned to some of the problems that he had already noticed in the team at the first opportunity. “Possession was quite slow, with few ideas,” he noted. This time, with four midfielders, the team was “pretty compact,” he said, but going forward it lacked almost everything. “It has been difficult for us to recover the ball, make transitions and be aggressive. We have forwards who need a more vertical game than normal. If you get to them slow, it’s a problem. Today [por este miércoles] sadness is the feeling of the team. You can lose because it’s sport, but we didn’t give a good feeling in the game; It is what worries me the most,” added Carletto, who asked “to look with a cold mind and not throw everything in the trash.”
The whites took the knee 37 games later, since their defeat on January 18 in the Cup at the Metropolitano (4-2). Of their five away games played this season, they have only won one (0-2 in San Sebastián), a night in which the Italian coach acknowledged that “they probably didn’t deserve to win.” Ancelotti had been ensuring for several days that his team’s game was showing progress and that it would be confirmed in the short term. The trip to Lille, however, turned on the red light in the costumes after a month and a half of filming. “This game is a turn back,” he admitted.
Four midfielders
On this occasion, the problem was not the demanded defensive balance, but the creative desert of the midfield, which led to an almost total absence of chances until the final push. For 85 minutes, there was no threat other than a run from Endrick in the first half, and a header from Carvajal and a deflected shot from Vinicius.
At a time of searching for a new boss in Madrid’s midfield after the disappearance of Toni Kroos, Ancelotti continued to explore the route of the four midfielders for the second consecutive game, just like on Sunday at the Metropolitano, although this time with his First options: Tchouameni, Valverde, Camavinga (his debut this season) and Bellingham. A quartet of youth and physicality that symbolizes the club’s commitment to provide relief in the midfield to the veterans who have left (Casemiro and Kroos) or are leaving (Modric).
The team felt more armed at the beginning, there were no distances between the lines, but the addition of another half to the detriment of the third attacker did not add more capacity to spin football. Nothing to see. Lille’s daring undermined a dry Madrid that urgently took off from France.
