Real Madrid won in Naples and is aiming for first in the group thanks to its victory at the Maradona, a stadium in which it has not known defeat and where it confirmed the recovery it has been experiencing since its defeat in the Metropolitan derby despite spending a bad time at the beginning of each part, which is no longer new.
With Modric on the bench and Bellingham as the star, Madrid carried out a game in which they attacked much better than they defended. As is usually the norm this season, he had to overcome a goal against, this time in a rude error by Kepa in a bad start and which led to a header from the Norwegian center back Ostigard. Kepa, who turned 29 yesterday, had until now proven to be a fairly reliable goalkeeper. He then made up for it with a great header save from Oshimen almost at close range.
Madrid in Naples was very much the same this season, a team that was deployed in a diamond, with Rodrygo at the point of attack instead of Joselu. Rodrygo is still denied the goal. Ancelotti chose to continue giving the wing to Vinícius and the Brazilian seemed increasingly closer to his performance. He scored a great goal after a recovery by Bellingham, who intercepted a bad pass from Di Lorenzo and achieved the tie with a heeled shot. Vinícius had not scored since August.
By then Madrid no longer deserved to lose because Naples had not shown much. Rudi García played a very withdrawn game and went on the counterattack, with many people behind the ball. He also did not put pressure in the center of the field, so the whites were quite comfortable in that area, in which Kroos directed the operations and Tchouaméni acted as a means of containment. Camavinga, who once again won the left-back battle against Fran García and Mendy, was just another midfielder. The whites’ superiority in the creation zone was constant in the first half. At the moment of Madrid’s best play came Bellingham’s goal. In the temple of Maradona it is inevitable to talk about a Maradonian goal. The Englishman got the ball near the area. He left due to the speed and skill of those who met him and crossed 1-2.
Madrid had a few more chances before the break and Napoli retired to the locker room with the feeling that they had to improve a lot if they wanted to turn the tables.
The beginning of the second half finally saw the best Napoli. Rudi García’s team gritted their teeth and their push put Madrid into their area. The whites immediately found themselves in trouble, especially in the 51st minute when referee Turpin went to the VAR monitor to give a somewhat surreal penalty at the hands of Nacho, a maximum penalty converted by Zielinski.
The tie encouraged Napoli and Ancelotti brought on Modric for Kroos to recover the ball again. Mendy also came on for Camavinga, who had yellow.
Madrid once again balanced the game and became dominant. After a shot from Vinícius and a rebound from Meret Bellingham had the goal, but his header went to the side. Then it was Joselu’s time, who came in for the missing Rodrygo, who sometimes seems to be greatly hampered by his lack of bodywork. As soon as the change occurred, Madrid went ahead again with a violent whip from Valverde from outside the area. The ball hit the crossbar, hit the goalkeeper’s head and slipped into the goal.
Madrid managed to maintain the advantage with some trouble in goal and Ceballos on the field for Vinícius. Madrid suffered, showed character and is already aiming for first in the group.