Arsenal destroy Real Madrid with two smart goals and another from Merino
Carlo Ancelotti showed once again that he is better at preparing matches than at fixing them.
The starting line-up against Arsenal included their sacred cows: Rüdiger and Alaba plus Camavinga in midfield. Three players who have been inconsistent throughout the season, to which we can add that the German and the Austrian are carrying injuries that force them to play with bandaged legs.
Modric in the middle and without Valverde does not occupy the whole field, no matter how much Camavinga accompanies him, and up front the problems arrive. Mbappé was again inaccurate, Vinicius had given up, Rodrygo didn't dribble and Bellingham displayed all his physicality more than 30 metres from the opposition area.
On top of all these problems was an Arsenal side that was at least organised. Arteta's men retreated into their half and decided to play the game at 180 minutes and not concede any goals in the first half. For that, the Odegaard-Thomas duo is a guarantee; up front Merino and Saka easily stepped into the white area and forced Courtois to work hard and forget about his physical problems. Mbappé had a one-on-one with Raya but incomprehensibly crashed the ball into his own body.
The one nobody was counting on was Declan Rice, a midfielder who had never scored a goal from a direct free kick and who decided to lift the Emirates Stadium with two intelligent bombs like Roberto Carlos did at the beginning of the century with Brazil. The first was a missile sent in from the touchline by Nicolás Jover, the second from Arteta, who was caught on camera gesturing for him to take the free kick outside the wall. Rice said after the game that his intention was to cross, but when he saw the gap he didn't think twice. Courtois put four players covering the goal post, but he should have put one more and expected that the shot could go in, although the Belgian goalkeeper decided to appear before the media and point the finger at his teammates for the fouls they had committed on the edge of the box that led to Rice's two goals.
Ancelotti did not take the hint after that goal in the 58th minute and it wasn't until the 70th minute and Rice sending another ball into the top corner that changes were made. What stunned Madrid fans was that the substitutions were Lucas Vázquez for Modric and Fran García for Alaba. That's all the Italian coach brought to his team after 2-0. Two changes in defence that meant Valverde was placed in midfield. The substitutes, as expected, did not force a change of attitude in attack and the personal wars began with Mbappé trying to dribble past the entire Gunners defence or Vinicius losing almost 20 balls in 90 minutes due to a reprehensible lack of attitude.
Bellingham said after the game that they were lucky not to have conceded more goals, and the Englishman was not wrong. He left the game so angry, in fact, that he barely said hello to Rice, the match's hero and his England team-mate. Alaba cleared balls from under the goal line, as did the Englishman, and Courtois prevented the first half from ending in a Real Madrid defeat. The third goal was scored by Merino, who more than fulfils the new role of striker that Arteta has entrusted to him.
Arsenal's perfect storm was not enough to see them through to the semi-finals. The terror that Real Madrid instils in the Bernabéu, in a second leg and with a deficit to make up, is such that no one can be sure that a new miracle will not happen. One that is unprecedented in these last few years of white wonders on the Paseo de la Castellana.
Real Madrid's game plan does not leave much of a chance for a comeback. Not even Juanito should be convinced about putting his spirit at the service of this enterprise. Ancelotti has lost control of the dressing room at the worst moment of the season. A cup final, a Clásico to fight for the league and the long-awaited Club World Cup demand that he revive the patient and put Güler, Brahim, Ceballos or Endrick to work if he wants to avoid a new catastrophe.
