Bellingham and Valverde put the two diamonds in a Madrid for all audiences
The Real Madrid system debuted and also its star signing. While the team was still torn between the pause of the past and the speed of the future, Jude Bellingham marked the pace of the white team with star gestures. Valverde, who must be a key piece in that coming Madrid, was the other spicy touch of Carlo Ancelotti's squad without detriment to Vinicius, who begins the season as the other ended, showing off and facing off. All in all, Real Madrid managed to overcome an initial two-goal deficit to end up beating Milan 3-2.
The 40th minute arrived and Jude Bellingham gave a heel shot to nowhere that was cut off by the Milan defense. It was the first mistake made by the Englishman and almost the only one in his debut with Ancelotti's team. The first half of Real Madrid-Milan was coming to an end and between Militao, Nacho, Lucas and, above all, Mendy, they had already accumulated two goals against, and an even longer list of failures behind.
Real Madrid began their preseason at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena (California) and people expected to see a Hollywood blockbuster, but they found a sweetened version of Bambi with spicy touches from the English medium in the first part and Valverde in the second. The rhombus was released on the white board, and Bellingham and Valverde were players of two rhombuses.
The first part was even between two great Europeans, semifinalists of the last edition of the Champions League. Milan sought to steal up front with high pressure and Real Madrid forgot about the touch of other campaigns and began its new era with quick transitions, more typical of the youth they have signed. Only Kroos maintained those remnants of a past Madrid, with more pause and less vertigo.
The first chances fell for the white team, thanks also to the return of a Brahim Díaz who moves well between the lines. However, Milan responded well, taking advantage of the cons and, especially, the rude errors of a defense that, except for Militao, seems to have few minutes next season. Mendy had several passes to the contrary that may not be transcendent due to the importance of this Champions Tour, but surely Ancelotti has taken good note of them.
However, and unfortunately for him, Nacho is the one who appears in the photos of the two Milan goals. In the first he does not finish closing the small area in a corner and Tomori finishes off without opposition to the back of the net. The second comes due to his error at the start that Romero collects and culminates from outside the area with a shot adjusted to Lunin's squad. Perhaps the Ukrainian goalkeeper could have done something more in the first, but the second was a real goal. Nacho so serious, sober and necessary last season to the point of earning the renewal, does not start well in this first test.
Uruguayan explosion
The second part began with a more bossy Madrid and with a completely renewed 11, eight changes compared to the first half. Vinicius and Rodrygo came out on top, replacing an absolutely invisible Joselu in the first half. Benzema is not the former Espanyol striker and Madrid would be wrong to expect a game similar to that of the Frenchman. Very few balls reached the striker of Galician origin.
The Brazilian duo was much more incisive in a slower and more rigid Milan defense, especially after Pioli waited until the 70th minute to make the changes. An internship by Rodrygo was the first Real Madrid warning until madness arrived at the Italian defense, taken advantage of by Valverde, MVP of the match. Special mention for goalkeeper Portiello. Nobody knows what Madrid has to cause these temporary madness in the rival goalkeepers.
In the 56th minute, Valverde took advantage of an initial error in the ball coming out of the Milan team to shoot from outside the area. It was not a very strong or tight shot, but Portiello slipped through his hands. Barely a minute later, the Uruguayan anticipated a pass from Tomori and, also from outside the area, beat Portiello again, this time with a powerful shot close to the post.
Milan, with the score tied, improved with the changes and matched a second half that had clear white overtones. However, Valverde reappeared to recover a ball, yield to Modric, and the Croatian would already take out his top hat to give a deep pass to Vinicius, who ate a soft Kjaer and defined low against Maignan, a substitute for the ill-fated Portiello.
Few conclusions can be drawn from a game that marks the start of the white season and from a new system that will mark the future of the game for Ancelotti's team. A rhombus with which the team had some problems to reach from the outside and to maintain a high pressure that Ancelotti wants to be one of the pillars of this new Madrid.