Real Madrid beat Cadiz at the Bernabéu in a placid match, only played well in the second half, and with their homework done they waited to see what Barcelona did in Montilivi. With the Blaugrana’s defeat against Girona, they won the title with four games to go, their League number 36. Now, they have three days with morale in the clouds to prepare for the semi-final of the Champions League against Bayern, which comes Munich tie.
This has been a League dominated by the whites from start to finish, and yet it has been quite a surprise for Madrid in what was expected to be a year of transition, because the season started without their best player, Karim Benzema (for much to the chagrin of the club he hoped to renew, the Frenchman accepted a mega-offer from the Arab League), and with two cruciate ligament tears in the first few weeks affecting two of the mainstays of the team: Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militão. As if that wasn’t enough, he soon suffered a third fracture of the cruciate, also in defense, that of David Alaba.
However, Madrid immediately turned to their well-known resilience and began to add victories under the undisputed player of the League: Jude Bellingham. Although it is difficult for British footballers to adapt to the Spanish League, the young English player, who turned 20 in the summer, got the command of the team and also stood out for his goal-scoring streak : adds 18 goals in the League with the one he scored yesterday in Cadiz.
Central to the Englishman’s performance was the plan designed by Ancelotti, who changed the team’s formation from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 in which Bellingham occupied the upper part of the rhombus, ready to connect with Vinícius and Rodrygo.
The other player of the season has been Vinícius, always with all the noise that accompanies him but decisive when the team needed him most. Other differential players have been Lunin, who ended up taking the title away from Kepa, signed very quickly due to Courtois’ injury; Brahim Díaz, the ideal number twelfth player, and Rüdiger, who became a colossus in defense. Nor did Joselu, who was loaned at a bargain price by Espanyol and contributed his share of goals, disappoint.
Madrid’s good season is demonstrated by the fact that they have lost only one game in the entire League, at the Metropolitano against Atlético (3-1). And only one more in the whole season, also against the mattress players, but in the Cup.
In the duty of this League, Madrid has two major controversies: especially the 3-2 to Almeria at the Bernabéu on January 21, with gross refereeing errors in favor of Madrid; and the phantom goal not conceded in favor of Lamine Yamal in the last classic. Madrid can argue that it also suffered a major controversy, the disallowed goal to Jude Bellingham at Mestalla that would have meant victory against Valencia, a move that was disallowed while the ball was in the air. The Englishman’s protests cost him two penalty matches.
The match against Cadiz was one of the easiest of the season for the Whites. With four days left to host Bayern, only one starter played: Nacho. Courtois returned and after a boring first half, Madrid set the pace and won with goals from Brahim, Bellingham and Joselu. The team was not at Cibeles yesterday. Everything depends on the Champions League.
