Real Madrid beat Inter and Atleti struggles in the round of 16
2020 was also to take Maradona away. A player with a hard life to live. UEFA paid tribute to him with a minute's silence in all matches held on Wednesday. The Metropolitano was more silent than usual in recent years. Despondent for months. With Simeone on the bench and Valdano in the press box. The former was suffering, though still watrs run deep. The second broke into tears remembering the death of "a friend".
Atletico de Madrid got stuck in attack again. The same thing that happened against Barcelona. The Lokomotiv goalkeeper stopped everything in his path and did not make the Ter Stegen goal. That was enough. Without Diego Costa and without Luis Suárez. The Uruguayan Federation has ruined life for the red and white club with Sunday roasts. João Félix and Correa did not find the goal. Carrasco and Koke had it, but VAR announced the offside at the worst moment. Changes made by Simeone were only intended to manage physical conditions and avoid injuries at this crossroads of matches held every two days. Atleti is second in his group, seven points behind Bayern who are still playing something else. The next match against the Germans should be the one that continues to forge great moments for their new stadium. But the first night of December will remain as cold as ever. Eleven against eleven and echoes in the stands. The nightmares of Qarabag and the Europa League.
Real Madrid visited the Giuseppe Meazza, in the San Siro district. It is better to call it this way when Inter Milan play. Another ghost town and another temple of football that missed a great match. The Italians recovered Lukaku and Madrid lost Ramos. If you add to that the first leg at Di Stéfano, the match looked bad for Zidane's team. But the Champions' anthem is the soundtrack of Real Madrid. Like Paulov's dog coming for food, the Whites go for goals when the chords are played. Without Benzema the team plays with a real nine. Mariano is Raúl's memory. Due to his commitment, at least for the moment. That pressure up the pitch that forced the defence to take the ball out uncomfortably. Nacho and Lucas Vazquez proved that playing for Real Madrid is not a gift. They played with skill and quality. Nacho provoked the penalty that Hazard scored. Lucas was that midfielder in Espanyol who deserved to be back in white. Zidane made three changes. Rodrygo replaced Mariano and scored on the first ball he touched. Inter did what Real Madrid wanted them to do. They chased the ball and witnessed Vidal's transitory madness. King Arthur dethroned once again when he had the white shield ahead. With Bayern, with Barça and with Inter. His manners will ultimately cost him his career. Zidane has to manage the squad to score against Shakhtar in Kiev and against Borussia in Valdebebas to make it through to the last 16 safely.
Barça beat Dinamo Kiev and now has more points in the Champions than in the League. All that happens to Barça in this 2020 is nonsense. Even Maradona's death touches them closely. A player who joined them from Boca Juniors for 1,200 million pesetas in 1982. José Luis Núñez paid that money after exchanging it into dollars and into the six exchange rates the Argentinean peso had in order to save a little money. Then came the injury, the aggression and the sanction. Times were different, when Barça was able to save. Now he is paying for the excesses of the previous board of directors with the goals of Braithwaite, Griezmann and Dest. By the way, in that match Barcelona lined up for the first time in history two American players, Dest and Konrad de la Fuente. In the sporting field, the canterano Mingueza can replace Piqué with guarantees and Messi continues to do his job. They already have the pass to the round of sixteen.
There will be a new Europa League champion. Sevilla sealed its pass to the next round of the Champions League and it can easily face what would be a great match in the Pizjuán against Chelsea, which will turn out to be a training of substitutes. Rakitic and Munir netted the ball for Sevilla on the 4th and the 95th minute and sent Krasnodar home. They suffered along the way. The midfield becomes a parade without Banega and the players' physical condition allows them to keep up with the pace. Nervión's bank account is getting full of zeros and that can make a new striker allow them to endure the winter season.
Haaland scored two goals. No matter when you read this. The Dortmund's gangly striker has a huge future ahead of him. Similar to the one Morata had until he decided to travel rather than play. Another goal from the Madrid-born player in the discount to get Juventus into the round of sixteen. Ajax, Liverpool and Atalanta want to reach that round, but there can only be two left. The same as in Group H where PSG and Manchester United see how Leipzig will force them to compete until the end. It is the Champions League. The one that Maradona never won.
