Scandalous material at Mestalla, where all the episodes that turned a match into a barefoot dog took place. It closed with a play that opened an endless controversy and in which Real Madrid felt that the victory was stolen from them. Gil Manzano decided to remove Vinícius from the head of the poster, which is a lot to remove, because the Brazilian had become the alpha and omega of the party. He returned to Mestalla after the famous incidents of last year and responded with the audacity that characterizes him. He scored two goals, revived the soporific Madrid of the first half and proclaimed from the rooftops that he is a great player. As impertinent as he wants, but a great player.
Extraordinary things had to happen to prevent Vinícius from making the headlines, but then Gil Manzano appeared in all his splendor. There were seven minutes, which the referee added to the match, that will leave their mark on this championship. In the heat of Mestalla, he declared a penalty against Madrid, amidst a turmoil of protests. The VAR intervened to deactivate the decision, but the match had already been derailed by the referee.
In a moment where refereeing is put into question, Gil Manzano decided to act interesting at the last moment. He conceded a corner in favor of Madrid, which he scored in the following action: the ball flew, the defense rejected it, Brahim received it on the right, placed the center and Bellingham headed it into the net. The referee said no, that he had whistled before Brahim’s intervention and that the match ended with a tie. A championship Sanfermín was organized, with serious consequences. One of them, the expulsion of Bellingham. Another, the impression of clumsiness left by Gil Manzano, who wanted to crown himself with righteousness with the second hand in his hand. Instead, it caused a fire that will be almost impossible to put out. That play and that decision will go down in the history of the League.
Bellingham’s goal crowned Madrid’s comeback, which offered unprecedented signs of weakness in the first half. Valencia, with their youth at full speed, took advantage of the childish errors of Valverde, Vinícius and Carvajal in two successive plays and took a two-goal advantage. A Madrid so spread out has not been remembered for a long time. In an impeccable season, only altered by the defeat against Atlético de Madrid at the end of September, Madrid has performed with extraordinary firmness. His timid behavior at Mestalla was surprising, where the atmosphere lived up to expectations. A lot of noise and a lot of anger towards Vinícius.
The Brazilian turned the situation around with the self-confidence that characterizes him. He scored his first goal in the last minute of the first half, the typical Madrid goal that usually leaves rivals thinking. The second half did not change the tone of the match. Valencia resisted with aplomb and Madrid could not find a way back in the match, until Ancelotti began to search the bench. He made all the possible changes, Modric, Fran García, Ibrahim and Joselu entered. All four worked. Vinícius then revealed himself as a goal hunter and scored the tie at two. It was clear that he was going to take the headlines, but Gil Manzano did not allow it. In this League, the referees are the kings of the mambo.
