Real Madrid defended their second place with a hard-fought victory at the Nuevo Mirandilla against a Cádiz side entrenched in their area, a team that defended itself in an orderly fashion, well aware that salvation was at stake, and that had its great hero in goalkeeper David Gil , the substitute for Argentine Ledesma, who is still serving a sanction. The whites won the game in the second half after an avalanche of chances of all colors, sometimes aborted by the Cadista goalkeeper and others due to a lack of finesse in the definition. The goal came in the most unexpected way, already in the 72nd minute, a shot by Nacho from outside the area.
Carlo Ancelotti was very aware of Tuesday’s game in London against Chelsea and made six changes to the eleven compared to Wednesday’s game at the Bernabéu. Players as important as VinÃcius or Kroos rested in Madrid and other starters like Modric started on the bench.
Despite the alignment of circumstances, Madrid played from the initial whistle with great intensity, with a midfield that pressed a lot with Ceballos in charge and with Rodrygo entering the left playing VinÃcius, much more toned than in recent appointments . Asensio, on the other side, had less prominence.
Cádiz from the outset waited for the whites, retreating into their area. The plan was to catch Madrid on the counter and they were about to achieve it at the beginning because the first chance of scoring was theirs, a shot from the winger Espino that went to the strain of the post.
He no longer approached the Courtois area in the entire first part. Madrid was around the goal but the punch failed, something in which lately it had been left over. He had up to five clear scoring chances before the break. In one of them, after 16 minutes, Ancelotti and all of Madrid claimed a penalty because they understood that Espino was holding Benzema by the arm at the time of the shot, which came out soft.
Apart from said opportunity, the best one was once again for Benzema after a play by Rodrygo. The Frenchman fell the ball inside the small area and with no one on top and with everything in his favor he sent the ball to the crosshead.
The second part began without changes and with more of the same. Four minutes later, David Gil once again beat Rodrygo one-on-one and prevented the goal. At 56 Rodrygo once again missed an incredible goal at an empty goal. A minute later it was Valverde who missed a goal that seemed safe because he adjusted his shot too close to the post.
Rodrygo claimed another penalty for pushing Jorge Meré in the area but neither did Gil Manzano or the VAR see it that way. Before, the video arbitration did not intervene in the face of a possible attack by Rodrygo on San Emeterio claimed by Cádiz.
In full harassment of the whites, Benzema shot to the post again. At 67 Ancelotti changed Lucas Vázquez for Camavinga and Nacho moved to the right side. It was decisive because at minute 72 Nacho shot from outside the area and finally managed to beat David Gil, a more than deserved goal that silenced Nuevo Mirandilla,
From there it was easy for Madrid. Three minutes later, at minute 75, Asensio brought out his quality and took advantage of the Cadista depression to score the second with another close shot. The last minutes were a street runner and Madrid was able to increase the score. He didn’t get it because it wasn’t the day for his strikers.
