The cup elimination has not gone down well with Real Madrid, who took the three points against Almería with a comeback in the second half, which started 0-2 down, in the most controversial match of the whites’ season. with controversial decisions by the VAR that always favored Carlo Ancelotti’s team.
More than just a typical match, it was a chronicle of events in which little was played, there were conscientious protests and the game was stopped for a long time between video referee consultations in the midst of tremendous tension.
Almería had not won all season and will have a hard time forgetting their time at the Bernabéu. Ancelotti brought out a team with very few rotations compared to Thursday’s Cup and many of his players gave the impression of being very tired, especially Vinícius who did not have his afternoon despite scoring a goal.
Madrid’s staging was very bad. The whites played the worst first part of the season. If against Almería at the Juegos Mediterráneos stadium, Almería scored after three minutes through Arribas, here they only needed 45 seconds to take the lead in a goal that portrayed the white defense in an error in the release of the ball by Nacho. Robertone passed it to Ramazani, who scored against Kepa, who started instead of Lunin, as Ancelotti had already warned.
The goal against did not encourage Madrid, who played in a very soulless manner, without giving the ball speed or depth. Almería, with a very serious game, completed a great first half with a second goal in the 43rd minute in another mistake by Nacho, a soft clearance that allowed a phenomenal whip from Edgar from outside the area that entered the top corner. Halftime arrived and the Bernabéu said goodbye to its players with a big whistle, the biggest of the season.
If the first half had been for Almería, the second began with Madrid launched, the match full of consultations for the VAR and Almería locked in their area and trying to weather the storm.
The first of the controversial decisions came in the 56th minute, a penalty that was only noticed by the VAR due to the hand of central defender Kaiki, a play so strange that the Bernabéu had not even protested and that surprised everyone. In the same play Rüdiger had supported Edgar, preventing him from jumping. Bellingham threw it in the center and deceived Maximiano
Another controversial action followed. In the midst of white harassment, in the 61st minute, Almería launched a well-planned counterattack that ended in a goal for Arribas. When no one expected it, the VAR intervened again and the referee Hernández Maeso annulled the goal for noticing a blow from Lopy to Bellingham at the beginning of the play.
Everything got even worse for Almería in the 66th minute when Vinícius scored and there were doubts whether he had hit him with his shoulder or his hand. After reviewing the action by the VAR, it again turned out to be expensive for Madrid, because the goal and the tie were validated. With the multiple repetitions the doubts were dispelled: the shot, Zamoran style, was with the arm. The referees saw it the other way around.
There were now twenty minutes left and nothing seemed to indicate that Almería was going to resist. To further misfortune for Garitano’s men, Madrid began to play better, with more sense. Then Bellingham’s goal came, but this time it was annulled by the VAR because Fran García was offside. It was very clear.
Madrid was already launched and began to chain opportunities. Bellingham almost scored a flag bicycle kick. To make matters worse for Almería, the referee gave eleven minutes of added time. Cards arrived at discretion and Garitano was sent off on the sideline. Madrid scored in the last attack, already in the 99th minute, a header from Bellingham to the far post, where Carvajal appeared to push it into the back of the goal. Madness broke out at the Bernabéu in the least glorious comeback in memory. The public said goodbye with a paradoxical “this is how Madrid wins.”
