Mendizorroza turned on and the speaker rang If you leave… of Estremoduro. The fallen Iniesta dress could not stop being heard throughout the evening while the accused Xabi Alonso, the only one in the entire stadium not wearing a coat in the freezing night of Vitoria, walked for kilometers on the sidelines. He came in and out of the bench like an automaton, and constantly asked his players to get together. This is your star indication these days as lucidity in the game continues to be locked away in a seven-key vault.
There weren’t many instructions from the Tolosarra, but as soon as Carlos Vicente equalized, they stopped in their tracks. He had prepared the change of Gonzalo García and he stopped it. In the seven minutes until Rodrygo’s 1-2, Xabi’s image was that of a man whose world was falling on him. During this period, the ghosts of the era of Julen Lopetegui appeared even more to him, who had also stumbled in Vitoria in 2019, on the eve of his dismissal.
This time, Xabi ended up hugging Vinicius when the Brazilian was substituted in the 90th as the key player in Rodrygo’s 1-2, who came out of nowhere to score two goals in the last four days after months swallowed up by a black hole.
“We are all in the same boat. We fight through the good times and the bad times. The team competed well. I give a lot of credit to the victory because we had a lot of losses,” said Xabi, who again received public gestures from some players and insisted that the team needs more continuity. “One match is not enough. There is still a lot to do, we must continue the good things we have done. Unity is essential. This is the only way for the solidity of daily life to give us the improvement we want”, insisted the coach, who again complained about the referee. He did it a week ago against Celta and did not spare criticism in Vitoria for a possible penalty against Vini in the final stretch.
Xabi had picked up Kylian Mbappé in a squad with nine injured players (Carvajal, Trent, Militão, Alaba, Mendy, Camavinga, Carreras, Fran García and Endrick), and he used the defense on the left of Víctor Valdepeñas because he did not have any of the five full-backs available. He congratulated the young player (“he was very stable”) after pointing him out during the 1-1.
Until then, Madrid was once again clinging to Courtois and Mbappé. Kylian had only trained once this week. After finishing last Sunday against Celta with soreness in the back of his right knee, he only rejoined the squad on Saturday. On Wednesday he underwent medical examinations in the morning and in the evening he did not appear on the field, even losing to City. But Madrid doesn’t have much more in attack than the Frenchman, author of 26 of his team’s 47 goals. In the good start of White, he threatened twice and the third time, with spaces, no one could stop him. Bellingham joined forces with him in one of the rare occasions when Alavés discovered himself and Kiki took responsibility for this mortal sin.
“Today the most important thing was the three points,” thanked a relieved Xabi. Midway through the second half, the man took another step towards the precipice and Lopetegui’s past floated to Vitoria. Until Vini connected with Rodrygo and stifled Alonso at the end of a week that led the coach to the precipice, from which he has not yet emerged.
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