Real Madrid Edge Valencia as Chaos Reigns Supreme, Just as It's Done All Season
Alvaro Arbeloa headed it away, but it came straight back. Mateo Kovacic then thumped it away, but it came straight back. When it did, Sergio Ramos made a string of tackles, the first on his feet, the second while stumbling, the third while pulling himself across the ground like Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street.
Ramos cleared it, sort of, but it came straight back. It then ricocheted off Danilo and up the pitch, but it came straight back.
The sequence was entering its second minute, and the scene was one of mayhem: It was 10 versus 11, but the 10 were on top; players were on the ground as much as on their feet; shape and tactics were nowhere to be seen; legs, boots, heads and torsos were flying everywhere.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
Added time was entering its fourth minute when Marcelo won possession on the edge of the box. He thumped it away like the others had, but finally, this time, it didn't come back. The whistle blew. Arms went into the air.
A chaotic sequence at the end of a chaotic game had seen Real Madrid repel Valencia to win, 3-2.
Somehow.
This, after all, was a game that had five goals, four of them brilliant and one of them offside. The shot count read 17-15 to Valencia, per WhoScored.com, eight on target apiece. Valencia hit the woodwork twice. Kiko Casilla made six saves. Diego Alves made five.
This was the essence of this incarnation of Real Madrid on display for all to see: brilliant but flawed; explosive but vulnerable; everything right about them one minute, everything wrong about them the next.
Again, chaos had reigned supreme around Madrid, just as it's done all season. And yet, here they are. "Until the end," read the headlines at both Marca and AS on Monday morning. Until the end indeed: On La Liga's final day, Madrid will contest a shootout with Barcelona (albeit in different locations) for the title.
Somehow, Madrid are still in it.
Keylor Navas was sitting in a waiting room at Madrid's Barajas airport, waiting for a phone call that would send him to Manchester. David De Gea was at the other end, ready to complete the reverse journey.
But that phone call never came.
At the back end of a ridiculous summer, Madrid had made a hash of the transfer process, and in doing so had bungled yet another thing. Another thing? You betcha.
In the months leading up to that day at the end of August, Madrid had fired a manager they liked and hired one they didn't. They then signed a €31.5 million right-back to give themselves their own headache. Then they let Iker Casillas bid farewell all by himself, only to then realise the mistake and make a song and dance about it the next day. That was even more awkward.
In the background to all of this, Ramos' dispute with the club rumbled along, before Madrid spent pre-season in Australia, China, Germany and Norway. "We spent the entire pre-season campaign in a plane," Luka Modric would later say.
So then came the De Gea mess. As summers go, it could barely have been worse, a sense of thoughtful preparation non-existent.
And yet, somehow, nine months on, Madrid are still in it.
The fans wanted them to attack, the media wanted them to attack and the president wanted them to attack, and one sensed the players themselves wanted to attack, too.
In charge, Rafa Benitez didn't want to. But he did anyway.
It was the season's first Clasico in November at the Bernabeu, and Madrid's form leading up to it had been patchy and ponderous. At the centre of a building storm, Benitez was spending days and weeks defending his intent and his team's style. But his defence was faltering.
This was a sort of ideological war, and he was losing. Against Barcelona, he knew conservatism would be political suicide, so he did the most un-Benitez thing there was: abandon his principles, pick the stars regardless of balance, satisfy the president and hope for the best.
Instead, he got the worst. Barcelona won, 4-0.
"Madrid are on the bonfire," said AS.
And yet, somehow, six months on, Madrid are still in it.
The hosts were losing, but their fans in the stands didn't care. "Benitez, check your Twitter," they sang gleefully.
On Twitter, the news was erupting. On the night, Denis Cheryshev had started and scored for Madrid against Cadiz in the Copa del Rey. For Cheryshev, it was great—except for the fact that he was suspended.
The news soon filtered around the ground. Those in the stands howled with laughter. The game became a farce. Benitez withdrew Cheryshev in an act of damage limitation, but the damage had already been done; Cadiz would appeal even if Madrid were determined to fight.
"This is not about looking for someone to take the blame," Madrid director Emilio Butragueno told reporters afterwards, before then explaining who else there might be to blame. The next day, president Florentino Perez held a press conference to essentially say: No one told us, so it doesn't count.
"Cadizazo," Marca dubbed it. "A ludicrous five months at the Bernabeu," it added. It was as though Madrid had hit the self-destruct button.
And yet, somehow, five months on, Madrid are still in it.
A new year and a new start? Not quite.
2016 wasn't even a day old, and already the lunacy had resumed. This time, police in an unmarked car had chased James Rodriguez all the way to the club's training ground, the Colombian having hit 200 kmh in the belief it was a kidnapping attempt.
The headlines just wouldn't go away. Already, they'd rained down on Karim Benzema. Then on Isco. And now James.
Two days later, Madrid drew 2-2 with Valencia (yeah, them again) at Mestalla, which saw Benitez lose his job just 43 days after a public vote of confidence from the president.
Perez then appointed Zinedine Zidane the following day, not because he was the best choice around but because he was the only choice. From Perez, it was a Hail Mary.
Two weeks later came the news of a transfer ban; someone it seemed was now hammering that self-destruct button.
And yet, somehow, four months on, Madrid are still in it.
It was late on Sunday night in Seville, and Madrid had just walked off the Benito Villamarin pitch after a damaging 1-1 draw with Real Betis.
For the most part, the visitors had actually been rather impressive, but in the game's aftermath, there was only one focus: right-back.
In the weeks prior to the visit of Betis, Dani Carvajal had been exceptional for Zidane, but suddenly, he was on the bench again. In his place: Danilo, the €31.5 million self-imposed headache.
And it hadn't gone well.
In the game's early minutes, Danilo had been at fault in the buildup to Alvaro Cejudo's opener, and thereafter the Brazilian had been sloppy and ineffectual in attack until Zidane subbed him for Carvajal.
Then it got awkward.
Soon afterwards, Butragueno was asked why Carvajal didn't start. "Carvajal had a fever so didn't start," he told reporters. "That was a technical decision, but from a physical standpoint he was a bit restricted." But then in the press room, Zidane was asked the same question and gave a completely different answer.
"He didn't have anything wrong with him," said the manager of Carvajal. "He didn't start the match because Danilo did, that's all there is to it."
Except that wasn't all there was to it, and everyone knew it. Madrid had allowed price tags and politics to affect team selection. Again. To their own detriment. Again.
"La Liga goes away," said Marca.
And yet, somehow, three months on, Madrid are still in it.
This was Zidane visibly frustrated for the first time since his appointment.
"I don't know if it is a result of attitude. Probably the football," he told the media. "Next year we may have to change. There will be changes. There could be a change of manager too."
Madrid had just been thwarted and sucker-punched by neighbours Atletico at the Bernabeu in the derby in the most familiar fashion. Madrid had attacked but did so without clarity; Atletico fended them off; Antoine Griezmann then cut them apart when they switched off.
"[Diego] Simeone and the importance of a game plan," said Marca. The suggestion was that the hosts didn't have one. "Time to stop blaming the manager," it added.
Zidane then said what everyone else was thinking: "Before you ask, the league is over."
And yet, somehow, two months on, Madrid are still in it.
Five goals, 17 shots to 15, eight on target apiece, two strikes of the woodwork, one contentious call and six saves at one end and five at the other.
"There was a bit of confusion in the second half, which can happen from time to time," said Zidane to the press. "It is part of the game. At the end we had a few difficulties against an opponent who played their game."
Against Valencia, Madrid had been as chaotic as they'd been impressive, as muddled as they'd been incisive. It was them summed up.
And yet, somehow, with one week to go, Madrid are still in it.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
