VinÃcius, without playing, was the protagonist of Real Madrid-Rayo, amnestied by the Competition Committee but out of the lineup due to knee discomfort. It couldn’t be any other way at the Bernabéu, where he turned to his player despite the fact that the stadium had only a little more than half an inning, one of the poorest of the season, which tarnished everything a bit. VinÃcius enjoyed an honor that no other active player has known. He watched the game sitting in the directors’ box, along with Florentino Pérez, the president.
After all there was a soccer game and Madrid beat Rayo in a very boring game. Benzema scored in the first half, something similar to the lame goal. Rayó tied at 84 through Raúl de Tomás, but the joy did not last long because Rodrygo put the sentence at 89. He scored, made the heart for VinÃcius and raised his fist, in the style of black power. There was not much more in a reduced duel because neither team was playing anything and if there are no goals at stake, football is something else. More boring.
The party for VinÃcius began when the young stands displayed a banner from the south end with the slogan “VinÃcius we are all. Enough alreadyâ€. Then the Madrid squad jumped onto the pitch, including VinÃcius, dressed in a suit, and they all posed with their backs to show that they were wearing number 20, the Brazilian’s.
Before, the footballers of the two teams had posed with a message “Racists out of football”, the motto of a campaign organized by four parties between the Spanish Federation, the League, the CSD and the AFE, the footballers’ union. The captains of the two teams and the referees also wore armbands with messages “united against racism”
The atmosphere was very festive in the stands, populated here and there with homemade banners, all obviously with messages against racism and in support of the Brazilian player.
The last of the more or less officially scheduled events was the massive applause for VinÃcius in the 20th minute of the game. It started timidly and ended up being thunderous, unanimous.
Ancelotti did not make too many concessions in the eleven. Kroos and Modric started to play again and the novelty was to see Rüdiger on the left side, with Alaba and Nacho in central positions. Above they played Benzema, Rodrygo and Valverde.
Madrid’s goal came in the 31st minute and was protested by Rayo. There was a neutral boat because Isi was on the ground. Madrid was activated earlier and the ball reached Benzema, who seemed lame, but still managed to dribble past Dmitrevski and score.
The second part began with a wasted opportunity by Carvajal and then came the carousel of changes. Ceballos and Asensio and Tchouaméni came on and Iraloa put Raúl de Tomas and Radamel Falcao into action looking for more offensive power. In 84 Raúl de Tomás hunted for the tie, but Rodrygo joined the party in 89 and Madrid tied up the three points, although it was not an afternoon that mattered much.
