Bellingham and Nico Paz send Real Madrid into Champions League last 16
Real Madrid continue unstoppable in the Champions League. The eight absentees were no excuse for beating the reigning champions of the Italian league and for playing some quality football that allowed them to dance with the Italians in the last 20 minutes of the game and close the group stage as group leaders.
Ancelotti knows that everything he gathers now will help him to get through the months of January and February where the Champions League disappears and the Copa del Rey arrives with uncomfortable matches for Los Blancos, but which they have to face with all the guarantees. A year ago the team fell off just before the World Cup in Qatar and in January they distanced themselves from Barça and were left with only Europe until City arrived.
This season Real Madrid is Bellingham. The Englishman has broken all prospects and all that remains is to congratulate the man who closed the deal and brought to the club a Briton with a style reminiscent of Zidane, even if Ancelotti is right to say that he has less quality but more finishing than the Frenchman.
Lunin has earned himself a starting place that will never come to him. Incomprehensibly, Ancelotti does not want him in goal and has already said that Kepa will return from injury against Granada. But the Ukrainian's display in front of and behind the posts was once again impressive. Napoli's first goal went in by millimetres, although the save and reflexes were reminiscent of the best Casillas.
Another problem for Ancelotti is Rodrygo. The Brazilian has taken the place of Vinicius and his goals have cast doubt on whether he should return to the right. To tie the game he repeated the moves he made last weekend against Cádiz with a stunning strike into the top corner not even a minute after Simeone's goal.
Bellingham has not stopped the scoring machine. Many expected the drought of a player who is not a striker, but no one counted on his footballing intelligence that allowed him to be on the edge of the box when Alaba crossed a ball forward for a Di Stefano-like header to make it 2-1. The ankle hampered his ability for a few minutes, but the Englishman decided to continue and Ancelotti told the press conference that he had managed the injury on his own.
Nico Paz was another protagonist of the match. The home-grown player has chosen Argentina for his international career, although Spain are keeping a close eye on this midfielder who has yet to make his debut for the senior Albiceleste. A player that Toni Kroos has fallen in love with and showed that he has an impressive shot by scoring the 3-2 from outside the box. After the match, the son of the historic Tenerife player Pablo Paz had a loving message for the youth team and encouraged them to pursue their dream of making it to the first team.
The match was settled with a goal by Joselu who apologised to the fans for his recent mistakes, unbecoming of a 9. Carletto defended the striker and assured that one only apologises when one does not work, but that Joselu trained well and did other jobs on the pitch, even if he did not score goals.
A delegation from the Moroccan Football Federation was in the Bernabéu box to see the facilities of the stadium where the 2030 World Cup final could be held or, at least, the one that will fight with the majestic Casablanca stadium.
