Two opposite scripts. Close to 64,000 athletes attended the Wanda as if their lives depended on it. The 300 madridistas who broke into red-and-white territory limited themselves to spending the afternoon with the happiness of knowing they were champions and convinced that this derby was almost like a San Isidro Trophy (next Sunday we will celebrate our patron saint’s festivities). In fact, my friend Alfonso Moreno, who attended the match with his sons Gonzalo, Pablo and Alfonso, told me after the match that it was a joy to leave the field shouting “Champions, champions!” to which the neighbors could not reply since the reality is unquestionable: some celebrate getting into the Champions League and others a possible double that would be caviar and pure gold on the same tray. The thought of the Cholo troop is in Elche, there they play next Wednesday, and Ancelotti’s in the final in Paris against Liverpool. Way of living…
Absence. There was no corridor, we were already warned. There they are for losing this opportunity to stay as a club, sir. On top of that, the rojiblanco club allowed a banner in bad taste to be hung on its main facade, which increases the bad taste due to the ‘no corridor’: “The Press and those in yellow, 120 years in the corridor”. These victimizing clichés reduce the strength of an institution. Especially if you win the derby with a goal thanks to a penalty. Vallejo’s struggle with Cunha, as Iturralde said at the Carousel, is not for a penalty. The VAR was activated because the Aragonese center-back accidentally stepped on the Brazilian. But he was already falling. The VAR is not for a play grayer than the first half that Madrid did. And I don’t forget that Savic’s treacherous kick to Nacho was free for the Montenegrin. If he gets to see yellow he would have gone to the street in the second half after another cumbersome entry, this time on Vini. The fact is that the brand new and current champions were confined in those first 45 minutes in their particular metaverse. It is true that there were only three starters in the green (Casemiro, Militao and Kroos). But they played without enthusiasm, without intensity, without pressing up, without joy… It didn’t look like a derby. It was also hard to take it seriously when before the match some guys walked onto the field, carrying the match ball, dressed as Darth Vader and Imperial Army soldiers simulating an episode of Star Wars. The scriptwriter forgot the occurrence that in this derby there was no war and there were no galacticos on the pitch, but on the bench (Benzema, Modric, Vinicius…). Even so, Atleti forgave Lunin and then ended up asking for the time…
Oblak hero. It is curious that despite playing Madrid at quarter throttle (not even at medium), he ended up turning Oblak into the figure of Atleti. When the ‘Halcón’ Valverde, Modric and Vinicius entered the ring, a cold sweat ran in the stands of the Wanda. But the Slovenian is a lot of goalkeeper and he took out three balls that already smelled like a net, as well as a failed header by captain Nacho that was a sung goal. And it is over. Defeat that does not take away an hour of sleep and no injuries for Paris. That will indeed be our great derby.
He goes for her. Football is also heart. That is why I tell you that this triumph of Atleti makes me happy for Marina Díaz San Segundo, a young athletic race that life is hitting hard. But she is fighting and this victory will give her strength. Congratulations, Marina!