Lucas, Mbappé and Rodrygo were among the goals.
Real Madrid sealed a victory over Deportivo Alavés on Tuesday night with what looked to be comfortable until it became nail-biting in the final few minutes. Los Blancos took only 57 seconds to take the lead as Lucas Vázquez tapped in from close range, but Kylian Mbappé followed up to double the team’s lead with an impressive solo goal before half-time. Early in the second half, Rodrygo Goes got in on the act with a powerful shot into the roof of the net from a tight angle. Then, with Jesús Vallejo thrown on in defence, the backline inexplicably fell apart. Carlos Protesoni scored from distance outside the box, before 34-year-old Kike García slid past the substitute to make it 3-2.
Three answers
1. Whose turn would it be to rotate this time?
Carlo Ancelotti had rotated against Espanyol at the weekend, but was forced to bring into action some of the star men he had initially left on the bench. This time around, that wasn’t required, but he did make more changes to his team. Dani Carvajal, who picked up a knock in that game on Saturday, was not included in the squad and was left to rest. In his place stepped up goalscorer Lucas Vázquez. Ferland Mendy and Antonio Rüdiger regained their places in the defence, in a side that looked to be more or less full strength with the exception of Lucas’ introduction. What was perhaps surprising was that Ancelotti waited until the 69th minute to turn to the likes of Luka Modric and Endrick Felipe to give rest to some of those who have played a significant number of minutes this season. We even got a rare sighting of the lesser-spotted Jesús Vallejo to give Éder Militão a few minutes of rest.
2. Why was the Bernabéu sound system so quiet?
The ongoing battle around the use of the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu continues, and as the authorities have limited the use of the venue for concerts, it seems that it could also impact sporting activities. The club still had its full sound system available and did use it, with the loud speaker announcements for team news, substitutions, goalscorers, and so on at full volume, but the volume of advertising and videos on the big screen was significantly reduced. In fact, there was no pre-match music on the speakers at all before kick-off or during the half-time interval, with only the club anthem being played before and after the final whistle at a reduced volume to usual.
3. What reception would Carlo Ancelotti get on his 300th game in charge?
This was Carlo Ancelotti’s 300th game in charge of Real Madrid, an incredible landmark that has only previously been achieved by legendary manager Miguel Muñoz who recorded 595 matches in command during his 14-year stint. It’s worth remembering that his win percentage of 70.7% is also second in the all-time list, behind only Jose Mourinho, but with 14 trophies compared to three for the Portuguese coach. The reaction to the recognition, which was announced over the loud speaker as Ancelotti’s name was read-out alongside the team news, was more mixed than expected. While large sections of the crowd stood to give him a standing ovation, there were some whistles from his harshest critics. It’s surprising to hear such hostility, but it does reflect a slow start to the season which has struggled to excite the most demanding of fans at the Bernabéu.
Three questions
1. What shortage of first-half goals?
57 seconds was all it took for Lucas Vázquez to open the scoring for Real Madrid, scoring the first first-half goal that the team have scored since matchday one against Mallorca. It was the first time the Bernabéu has seen a first-half goal since the last time Alavés visited, on another Tuesday night, in May, as five games since had all ended at the break without a goal for either side. Kylian Mbappé then produced the kind of magic that fans have been hoping to see from him in a white jersey. It was enough to shake off this trend of failing to score in the first half of games before a decisive few weeks ahead in which such a flaw cannot continue.
2. Did we see any clues ahead of the Derbi Madrileño on Sunday?
The truth is that there are limited lessons that we can take from this show ahead of the spectacle on Sunday evening. Real Madrid’s early lead meant that at no point were they looking to break down an Alavés side in the same way as they may have to against Atleti, and they were not challenged defensively. The fluidity with which Vinícius, Rodrygo and Mbappé played together in the front line did reflect well and show the continued evolution of that trio, with each player more rigid in sticking to their position with Rodrygo wider on the right and Vini wider on the left. That could be a real battle to keep an eye out for with Atleti’s use of wing-backs, and a system that Real Madrid may have been testing on Tuesday night to see how they could exploit that.
3. Is there a problem with yellow cards for dissent?
We were only in the fourth minute when Fede Valverde threw his arm up in the air in frustration at the first foul of the night and earned himself a yellow card. Before the half-hour mark, Vinícius Júnior had joined him in referee Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz’s notebook. It took the total for this season up to eight yellow cards for dissent from a total of 14 cautions shown to Real Madrid players. Last season, only 14 of Real Madrid’s 72 yellow cards in La Liga were for that reason. It’s evident that La Liga referees are cracking down on protests and complaints from players this season, and the increase is across La Liga, but Real Madrid currently lead the table for yellow cards for protests.