Arms in a cross, the Bernabéu venerates its new Christ, a pagan Christ, a Christ of the goal. The demanding Chamartín crowd has reasons, because Bellingham scores like a 9, plays like a 10 and works like a 5. The temptation to look for precedents for this start is human, as is nostalgia, but Bellingham should not be looked for in the past, but in the future, for its ability to combine technique and precision with the physical power and speed that they demand. the new times of football. In a solvent Madrid it makes a winning Madrid. Ancelotti's team needs Belligham's winning record to be repeated. Like a Christ on the grass of paradise, not in the sand of Calvary. [Narrative and statistics (4-0)]

Osasuna, which fell by a resounding 4-0, provided facilities so that the image did not wait long. He defended by position but without aggression. For a team like Navarre it is like playing without heart. At the first break of lines, caused by Camavinga and Modric, the Croatian handed over to Carvajal inside the area and he gave way for the arrival of Bellingham. There was traffic, so in that situation you have to be cool-headed not to rush, you have to be a killer.. The Englishman waited, saved a piece and hit without burdens due to responsibility.

Something similar happened with the second goal, after Osasuna returned to the contemplative field after the break and the Englishman looked for a wall to define under Herrera's legs.. Easy. Unbecoming of a player who is barely 20 years old who has just arrived at Madrid.

LITTLE IRON OF OSASUNA

Between one goal and another, few things happened, with no more scares for Herrera, despite Madrid's dominance, and with two for Kepa at the end of the first period, when Osasuna did things that it does well in transitions. The team circumstantially led by Alkiza on the Bernabéu wing, given Arrasate's sanction, has long been no longer responding solely to a team that fights and resists. No. His offensive intentions are clear, although at the Bernabéu he lacked conviction and surely energy. He came out of his cave to find Moncayola's shot and a very clear shot from Budimir, after an empanada by Carvajal and Kepa, both before the break. Nothing else. To visit Madrid you need more iron.

Bellingham's second goal, however, curtailed any change of scenery that could be intuited after those two isolated chances for the Arrasate team, desperate in the box.. Osasuna was dead. Madrid had liked the ball and would do so more from that moment on, with Modric once again starting, Camavinga in the pivot and Tchouaméni as central defender.. The last one is fast, but he does not have the measurements that the job offers in that position. Normal.

Ancelotti uses priceless logic. Instead of getting carried away by the rigid hierarchy of positions to adapt the team to absences, he prefers to do it for quality. As the population with the most talent is in the center of the field, it uses midfielders to cover holes: better a good one in another position than a less good one in its own. That explains Camavinga's trips to the side or the presence, yesterday, of Tchouaméni in the center of the defense.

Vinicius, against David García and Sergio Herrera, in the 3-0 action. EFE

Talent in its purest form is Vinicius, whose start to the season is not the end of the previous ones, injury through. Madrid needs him in his best version, because we cannot talk about 'Bellingham dependence', but it is better not to provoke tendencies that go against the sense of team. In a different scenario than at the beginning, Vinicius, who Areso had covered well, found the space to run towards the goal. After what he achieved in Naples, it is the second in a row for the Brazilian, something that should contribute to his reunion with himself. Better on the road in the area than noise or in the courthouse.

Vinicius did more, giving the assist for the fourth goal to Joselu, while Ancelotti moved the bench, with minutes for the electric Brahim or Ceballos, and Arrasate tried the impossible with his. Joselu adds and continues, without anyone wondering about the missed penalty at the end, but Madrid needs to consolidate that luck after Benzema's departure for when it is necessary under pressure. Asking Bellingham too seems like too much. Or not.

It was a long and logical wait until, in the Passo di Ganda, everything was decided with Tadej Pogacar, king of kings, showing his irrefutable arguments on a bright and warm day, presided over by the news of the breakdown of negotiations for the song fusion-absorption of Jumbo and Soudal.

It was hot, yeah. The “Fifth Monument” is still the “Fifth Monument”. But “the Race of the Dead Leaves” has been this year “the Race of the Dying Leaves”. In an autumn that does not just appear, subjected to a prolonged summer, the leaves do not finish dying. Languidecen. Agonizan. But they don't die.

With its 238 kilometers and 4,400 meters of elevation gain, Lombardy is, overall, a tougher classic than San Remo, Roubaix, Flanders and Liège. As in them, on the other hand, the usual skirmishes took place, more or less numerous, more or less lasting, until the moment of truth arrived, at the moment of truth and with the true champion: the mentioned, the expected, the decisive Passo di Ganda (9.2 kms. at 7.3%), in the final part of the race, where the Passo della Crocetta and other respectable slopes also accumulated.

Evenepoel was not included in the ointment. He had fallen as soon as he started pedaling, after the start in Como. He is screwed in Lombardy. Three years ago he “flew” over a parapet, on the Muro di Sormano, at the end of the test. This time he went to the ground at the beginning. Pained, he nevertheless led the second group of pursuers and, in addition, victoriously competed with them in the sprint. He has as much race as class. And self-love, which is the noblest and most permissible form of egoism, that love of oneself. Enric Mas had fallen with him, and he abandoned. Later, Mikel Landa 'kissed the asphalt'. Aside from their abilities and limitations, these two have bad looks.

Pogacar's Emirates had succeeded Roglic's Jumbo in control of the race. Without getting out of the saddle, Tadej attacked the hardest part of the Ganda. Se le unió Vlasov y, más tarde, Roglic, Carlos Rodríguez, los hermanos Yates, Vlasov, Bagioli y Carapaz. They then crowned the Passo and Pogacar, attacking again as soon as they began the very technical descent. He surprised his colleagues. They didn't expect something like this. And if they expected it, it was not at that moment and at that point, when you have to take a break after the extreme effort of the climb.. The meters that Pogacar took in those early and unexpected curves were decisive. “Ipso facto”, the Slovenian established a chronological and a psychological difference between him and the pack of alpha males.. Both insurmountable. Surprise. An essentially uphill race won downhill.

Pogacar, in the middle of a getaway. MARCO BERTORELLO AFP

At one point during his ride, Pogacar seemed to suffer cramps. The blood did not reach the river. He maintained the differences. And, on the final slope of the Colle Aperto, in the beautiful Città Alta of Bergamo, between medieval and Renaissance walls, and human walls of enthusiastic fans, soaked in sweat, but relaxed, he savored the glory. He won his third consecutive Lombardy. And his second “monument” of the season, after his victory in Flanders. It was, in addition, his 17th victory of the year. Behind him, Bagioli and Roglic. In seventh place, Carlos Rodríguez.

Immense more than enormous, grandiose more than great, Pogacar once again gave an exhibition of class and wisdom. At 25 years old, only his future is more splendid than his present.

The anti-divo footballer, the one who combined his Business career with his rise in football, threatens the upward line of Atlético de Madrid. Mikel Oyarzabal (Eibar, 1997) bursts into the Civitas Metropolitano this Sunday (4:15 p.m.) with the intention of making the existence of Oblak and a defense that has lost the solidity of yesteryear bitter.. The forward of Real Sociedad, flag of the txuri urdin, regains notoriety. He has scored in the last four games (three in the League and one in the Champions League) and on Friday he returned to a national team call-up.. Everything is the same again after that damn injury that kept him out for more than nine months and kept him out of the World Cup in Qatar.

“Mikel is one of the best players in the history of Real Sociedad,” says Imanol Alguacil, a coach who has never doubted the performance and reliability of the left-footed player.. In this League he has played eight games, four as a starter and on three occasions he has been substituted. With three goals (one from a penalty) he is the second most effective in his club, only surpassed by Kubo. He has one assist and is third in the shot ranking (four), behind Kubo and Barrenetxea.

Oyarzabal has gained momentum and does not stop. At 26 years old he appears on the list of illustrious scorers of Real Sociedad. He already has 87 goals, he is the club's top scorer in the 21st century and has entered the top ten of the San Sebastian entity, headed by Jesús María Satrústegui, with 162 goals. The second is Roberto López Ufarte, with 129.

De la Fuente's support

The captain assumes the responsibility of wearing the stripes of the team of his life and flees from individualism. «I work to try to make Real win. I only think about doing what the coach asks me to do. “You have to be together and grit your teeth,” explains the forward, who in his beginnings in football shared a flat with students from the University of Deusto and who always preferred to manage his contracts with his family apart from the managers.

He signed with Real Sociedad in 2016 and has a contract until 2028. His main objectives of the course are to qualify Real for European competitions and be called up for the Euro Cup.. The competition up front in the national team is great, but he trusts in his experience and the support of Luis de la Fuente. On Friday he re-entered a list of those chosen.

289 days off

His numbers with Spain are 23 games, six goals, nine wins, eight draws and six losses.. Revenues that could have been more succulent if he had not been punished by misfortune. On March 17, 2022, in training with Real, he tore the knee ligament in his left leg.. He was out for 289 days and was not able to return to the fields until December 31 of that month.

Oyarzabal turned the page and now leads a brilliant Real Sociedad that seeks to stop the progression of a decimated Atlético. This Sunday, Correa is out again, suffering from his sprained knee. His absence joins those of Memphis, Reinildo, Barrios, Lemar, Soyuncu and Giménez. «We need to have the ball more, but for that we need energy. Nobody cares that we play every three days, but with the losses we have I am very happy with what we are doing. “I am very grateful to players like Witsel or Azpilicueta, who are 34 years old,” Simeone stressed on the eve of the match.

One more afternoon, Jude Bellingham took over the Santiago Bernabéu spotlight. Goals, running towards one of the backs, looking at the stands and arms open, as if nailed to a cross, as if trying to encompass what already belongs to him: the affection of a fans and a locker room surrendered to him. His start is “surprising”, admitted Carlo Ancelotti, and historic, as the data add. After the double against Osasuna, the Englishman has accumulated 10 goals in his first 10 games in white, equaling the figures of Cristiano Ronaldo in his first ten games with Madrid in the 2009-2010 season. Only they have achieved something like this.

Bellingham is the Pichichi of LaLiga and leads Madrid's offensive game, but he also works, recovers and is ready to praise other teammates. In Vinicius' goal, the Brit raised his arms celebrating the goal when the Brazilian was still facing Sergio Herrera. This was the trust he had in his partner. And when Vini scored, he was the first to point out Fede Valverde in front of the stands to praise the Uruguayan's assistance. “What stands out most about him is the maturity he has.. He's smart and a quick learner, and he's very happy to be here.. He has his feet on the ground, he has seriousness, professionalism…”, Ancelotti did not run out of adjectives in the press room. The rhombus that the Italian invented in the summer, changing Madrid's system, is the one that is placing Bellingham on the throne of continental football.

Regarding his position, Carletto praised that it is not “fixed”, something that “gives him an advantage”. “It is easier to study and defend a player who fixes his position. Not him, he is very dynamic. He comes from the second line very well, he combines…. It is a surprising start to the season in all aspects. Nobody expected this level of goals,” admitted the coach.

The Italian knows that one day the British streak will end because “he is not a center forward”, but he enjoys it. “The time will come when I put other types of attitudes on the field in terms of work and quality.”

Vinicius: “He was born to play here”

One of Bellingham's best friends in the locker room is Vinicius Júnior, a member, like the Englishman, of the young clan that makes this locker room “one of the cleanest I've ever had,” as Ancelotti acknowledged.. The Brazilian, who scored and assisted, insisted that the Briton “was born to play for Madrid”. “He was born to mark an era in the biggest team in the world and I hope our connection lasts for many years, that we play here together for a long time.”. “I am delighted to play with him, he is one of the best in the world at such a young age and we are all very happy.”

On the pitch, Ancelotti once again gave a start to Luka Modric, who had not started since the Madrid derby. «He has been the same Modric as always, with his involvement, with his commitment. The ovation he has had is normal. “What he has done today is what he has been doing for this club,” praised the Italian, who admitted that “he is not going to talk to anyone, neither with the players nor with the selectors” during the break.. «Whoever is tired, should talk to his national team coach. “We, unless they ask us, are not going to talk to anyone.”

The debate over the penalty

The only downside of the game was the penalty missed by Joselu. The eleven meters seem to be one of the small weaknesses of the white team. In addition, there was debate again before the launch. While Joselu waited with the ball at the penalty spot, Lucas and Valverde approached Rodrygo and spoke to him, and Ancelotti spoke to Mendy and pointed to the Brazilian. «The thrower was Joselu, but if Rodrygo wanted to throw it, I told them that he could throw it. It could be changed at that moment in the game. “I don't know the details of what they have talked about.” Rodrygo, who was a substitute, left the field somewhat angry after things did not work out for him in the 20 minutes that the coach gave him.

Florentino Pérez was missing from the box, who was absent because a couple of days ago he tested positive for Covid. “He is fine,” the club said.

Since May 2021, when Simone Biles presented her latest innovation in the vault, a Yurchenko double backflip, many specialists had analyzed the technical aspects of the exercise, but only a few measured every detail with scrupulous accuracy.. One of them was John Eric Goff, a doctor in Physics at the University of Lynchburg, who after examining the videos of the great American diva offered his data to the Houston Chronicle newspaper.. According to Goff, for Biles to nail that jump she must accelerate up to 25 km/h during the race, push off the colt with her hands for just 16 hundredths of a second, spin at 150 revolutions per minute (a little less than half that of the blades of a helicopter) and rise, at the maximum point and upside down, three meters above the ground. “I could dunk on a regulation basket if I had a ball at my feet,” Goff concluded.. Now, after her second gold at the Antwerp World Championships, won on Friday during the individual final of the all-around competition, experts wonder to what extent and when Biles will be able to continue revolutionizing gymnastics.

“You can probably modify your exercises, try other combinations and difficulties,” says Diana Plaza, technical secretary of the women's and men's teams of the Spanish Federation (RFEG).. «You can see that he is having a lot of fun. Her 26 years are an adult age for a gymnast, but they also give her a maturity that will allow her to continue enjoying herself, if she considers it that way.. It is not ruled out that he could dare with another element whose difficulty would make him almost unapproachable for his rivals,” Plaza adds to EL MUNDO.

«You have more than earned the right to choose your future. Let's hope she doesn't get injured and we can see her at the Paris Games, where we will all hope she can get rid of her Tokyo thorn.. Afterwards, I think he will make the decision to retire,” predicts Gervasio Deferr, two-time Olympic champion in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 in vaulting.. However, the Barcelonan never presented the Yurchenko with a double backflip in official competition, already registered by the International Federation under the name Biles II, due to the risks it entailed at the time of scoring.. “I only trained him by falling into the foam pool,” he recalls.. What does Biles have, then, to dare to take a jump that until now was forbidden to men?

«A unique and differential talent»

«His speed and power are brutal. “She is also brave like herself,” Deferr continues, before detailing each aspect of the jump.. «To enter the double pike, the previous phases have to be technically perfect: the shoulder angle must be exact to gain the necessary height during the flight and the passage of the hands from the rack to the legs must be very fast» , recounts those thousandths of a second only within your reach. The risks, logically, multiply during landing. «If you go too tight you can break both ankles at the same time. I think that the jump is even more worth it because of all the dangers it entails and because of how easy it is to fail,” Deferr adds, in conversation with this newspaper.

Plaza, likewise, completes the analysis with another key: «Of course Simone has power and speed, but what makes her different from the rest is her technique in terms of the biomechanics of the element.. It is a unique and differential talent.”. Yesterday, during the final of the complete competition, Biles limited herself to a Yurchenko with a pirouette and a half in a plank, with a difficulty of 5.6, compared to 6.4 for the pirouette double somersault. Her final total (58,399) was enough to surpass Rebeca Andrade (56,766) and Shilese Jones (56,766), win the gold and now add 27 medals in the World Championships.. Today, during the first day of the apparatus final, with the rack and the asymmetrical parallels, presumably he will resort to his most difficult yet to further adorn a sublime record.

Leaving aside the distance, Biles' case brings to mind that of Elena Produnova, the first jumper who dared to do a pigeon with a double somersault forward.. The Russian woman's feat dates back to the year 2000 and since then no one has been able to surpass it.. Therefore, it is worth asking whether this Biles II should be considered a true milestone in the history of gymnastics.. At this point, Plaza and Deferr's criteria diverge.

“Without downplaying the importance of this wonderful leap, I do not believe that this is a milestone, since it is in line with what was offered during the last decade, when the 10, the mandatory exercises were eliminated and the difficulty rating was opened,” he points out. the former gymnast, seventh with Spain at the Atlanta Games in the complete team competition. «Today, even if you fall, you can win a gold. “Before, when perfection in execution was sought, in addition to subjectivity and originality, any error frustrated the medal.”. In Plaza's opinion, the great milestone of this sport bears the signature of Nadia Comaneci. «With it we evolve from a slow gymnastics with little flight phase, to a much faster one, with a greater flight phase and links. “From a girl's physique we went to an athlete's physique.”

On the other hand, Deferr is firmly committed to the historical significance of Biles. «Gymnastics has changed, because women now see that it is possible to equip themselves with men. And that transforms the perspective. Of course their physical characteristics are different, but they know now that by working things out. To finish his reasoning, the world runner-up on floor in Tianjin 1999 and Stuttgart 2007 resorts to an almost poetic image. «The boys seem to break the track or the trampoline, but she doesn't sound, it seems like it's not difficult for her. “It is capable of rising and falling perfectly, as if it were placed on top of a twig.”