Osasuna and Benzema prevent Real Madrid from staying on top

Carlo Ancelotti has already commented that this season is going to be atypical, that the World Cup is going to alter the first part of the league and that they have to rotate as much as possible. 

It was with this in mind that Real Madrid went out to the Bernabéu on a Sunday when, hours before, their president had had his particular bath and massage with the members elected to decide the club's destiny. Between Superliga, Al-Khelaifi, criticism of the levers and some absent-minded members calling for the stadium to be renamed Bernabéu-Florentino, the accounts were approved and until next year. 

Real Madrid's starting eleven against Osasuna already discounted the minutes played by many of their internationals with their national teams, including injuries such as Modric. Lunin was the starting goalkeeper and on the bench awaited the second generation of one of Spain's great goalkeepers, Lucas Cañizares, son of Santiago Cañizares. 

Tchouaméni and Ceballos accompanied Kroos and up front, Benzema, now recovered, alongside Vinicius and Rodrygo to score goals. Ancelotti has a very competitive squad, and the forced rotations will mean he can count on 15 players until May 2023 and, best of all, they will be motivated because they will have minutes. 

Real Madrid's play was thicker than usual. The team instinctively turned to Vinicius, expecting the Brazilian to do everything and score goals or set them up on a plate. The opponents know this and have no trouble setting two marks to prevent the overflow. 

The white inertia was rewarded in the 43rd minute with a long-range shot from Vinicius. The ball was curled to Sergio Herrera's long post and Rüdiger was able to keep it out. The move was barely protested by Osasuna and it was the end of the first half that finally convinced the players that the job was done. 

Five minutes after the restart, Kike García took a clearance into the centre of the box for Unai García to put in a perfect cross. The back-heeled shot caught Lunin slightly off his line and the goal did justice to a game that Real Madrid were struggling to close out. 

Once again, Real Madrid's momentum carried them forward in search of a second goal. Arrasate said after the game that it was in that moment of attack from Los Blancos that he believed he could score the second and win the game, but another perfect clearance and a pass from Camavinga to Benzema inside the box unbalanced the game. 

Los García were the protagonists, from the pass, finish and goal to the push on Benzema inside the box that Cuadra Fernández had to review in the VAR because live he didn't see anything and he showed it with the gesture of his arms. 

The VAR showed that it was a clear penalty and David García was sent off as an obvious consequence. Sergio Herrera made himself big against Benzema who crashed the ball against the crossbar and could not break the 1-1 draw. 

The rest of the game was a siege of the Whites, albeit with little fortune. The ball was not moving as quickly as it should. Valverde, Asensio, Militao and Mariano did not change the face of the team that much. Osasuna were defending without Ez Abde on the pitch, who continued to play good minutes as a rojillo.

If Ancelotti wants to have Mariano ready, he should give him more minutes and not expect him to solve the game from the 85th minute with the rival under the goal waiting for the final whistle. The striker has the desire to score, but he could show it better with time. 

In the end, the leader ceased to be the leader because Barça have conceded fewer goals in the first few rounds. Xavi's team won 0-1 against Mallorca and everyone is already thinking about the Clásico in a fortnight's time. Before that, Real Madrid host Shakhtar and travel to Getafe. Barcelona travel to Milan to play Inter and host Celta Vigo at Camp Nou.