Ancelotti’s men squeezed Betis without a goal (0-0) and are nine points behind the leader Barça
MADRID, March 5 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid drew goalless this Sunday against Real Betis on matchday 24 of LaLiga Santander held at the Benito Villamarín, a new setback that allows FC Barcelona to move away from the lead by nine points, despite having chances and dominance.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team jumped into the Verdiblanco fiefdom with a clear offensive intention, with a Vinicius who tried throughout the game and overflowed on more than one occasion. In the second half, the siege was notable by the whites but, without a goal, the defending champion begins to neglect his crown while Betis remains three points behind the ‘Champions’ zone.
After the triumph of Barça hours before against Valencia, Madrid jumped something more forced if possible, with the pending accounts of the defeat in the Cup against the Catalans at the Santiago Bernabéu, without shooting on goal, and the draw against Atlético de Madrid last week. Rodrygo, Vinicius and Benzema packed the visiting attack but Betis responded with a nice exchange.
It was a back and forth game but the chances weren’t that many. Manuel Pellegrini’s team, who knew how to stand up to their prestigious rival despite the losses of Fekir and Canales -his two best men-, breathed after 12 minutes when the referee annulled a free-kick goal by Benzema for bouncing off the Rudiger’s hand.
Before, Ayoze tested a Courtois who was attentive to that and another very good one by Borja Iglesias in the second half, the two clearest of the Andalusians. In the whites, Vinicius was the agitator, the tireless resource on the left wing, while Benzema, in an unproductive moment, teamed up well with Rodrygo this time.
The round trip, without shooting on goal, became more of a visiting monologue except for that of Iglesias, with a ‘Vini’ taking advantage of the wear and tear on the rival defense. The Brazilian gave Benzema the goal, but the Ballon d’Or did not finish off forcefully against Claudio Bravo who also saved what was needed.
Betis began to accumulate work, with Valverde testing from outside the area, and a more deflected Rodrygo. The entry of Ceballos left another good opportunity for the former Betis, in the middle of an already hot game, with tension and cards. Madrid besieged, but it lacked punch so as not to neglect a little more a League that begins to turn Barca if it does not remedy it soon.
DATA SHEET.
–RESULT: REAL BETIS, 0 – REAL MADRID, 0.
–LINE-UPS.
REAL BETIS: Bravo; Sabaly, Pezzella, Luis Felipe, Miranda (Abner, min.87); Guido, Carvalho (Guardado, min.80); Ruibal (Joaquín, min.87), Rodri, Ayoze (Luiz Henrique, min.71) and Borja Iglesias (Willian Jose, min.71).
REAL MADRID: Courtois; Lucas (Carvajal, min.59), Militao, Rüdiger, Camavinga (Nacho Fernández, min.63); Tchouaméni (Dani Ceballos, min.63), Valverde, Kroos (Álvaro Rodríguez, min.87); Rodrygo, Vinicius and Benzema.
–REFEREE: Soto Grado (C. Riojano). He admonished Carvalho (min.45 + 2), Sabaly (min.51), Iglesias (min.51) and Luiz Henrique (min.84) for Betis. And to Camavinga (min.25), Rodrygo (min.69), Militao (min.59) and Vinicius (min.86) in Madrid.
–STADIUM: Benito Villamarin.