The superb strike of the 93rd minute of Fede Valverde kept Real Madrid on the tail of Barcelona in the race for the Spanish title, winning the champions a 1-0 victory against Bilbao athletic on Sunday. Madrid remained four points behind Barça after Valverde broke the upper corner with a clear and distant effort. After the elimination of the Champions League by Arsenal, it seemed that Madrid had been set for another devastating result to the intervention in time of Uruguay International. “Fede has such a good shot … In training yesterday, he shot on a bullet that seemed to be out, then he picked up a loop like that and you are” how do you get like that? “,” Said Madrid’s goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
“In training, he does it once or twice a week.”
The Bilbao athletics, which reached the semi-finals of the Europa League on Thursday by beating the Rangers, turned strongly.
Despite this, the Basque side turned out to be a hard nut for Madrid to crack, in particular with their top scorer Kylian Mbappe both suspended and recovering from an ankle problem.
The striker was whistled by some fans for his failure to help the team overcome Arsenal in the quarterfinals of the Champions League in the middle of the week when he was shown by watching the match on stadium screens.
“Valverde was the key to this match because he scored the goal,” said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.
“The team was good, a little slower in the first half but very good in the second.
“We wanted to win, we wanted to react after the elimination against Arsenal – the team passed and Fede was the key player.”
Vinicius, who was previously criticized by Ancelotti for lack of defensive work ethics, ran hard on the left, that fans of the Santiago Bernabeu appreciated.
The Brazilian has sometimes fought for the form this season, but was the brightest player in Madrid against Athletic, giving Unai nodging a difficult night.
Madrid played intensity after their European elimination, trying to keep the Liga in sight after Barcelona made a late return to beat Celta Vigo on Saturday.
Rodrygo will get closer early in the second half before the sports goalkeeper Unai Simon wrote from Eduardo Camavonga.
The hosts began to push athletics more deeply and began to create a better chance.
Madrid turn screw
Vinicius folded a delicious cross with the outside of his boot in the six -meter box so that Jude Bellingham meets, but Simon made an excellent backup to give a tip on his head.
Fede Valverde fired closely wide from the nearby post and Vinicius found the net, but Endrick was offside in the accumulation.
Bellingham called for a penalty after going slowly in the region, then fired at close range in the final stages.
It was the kind of luck that the English international managed to transform into late games of matches last season when he inspired Madrid to the Liga and the glory of the Champions League.
Instead, Valverde played this role with his sublime explosion that left Simon without any chance.
“Valverde has an extraordinary shot,” said sports coach Ernesto Valverde.
“We had a very good match (but) they are individually very good, Vinicius was very good.”
Madrid’s victory offers them the hope of recovering their season and a morale before the final of Copa del Rey next weekend against Barcelona.
(This story has not been published by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a unionized flow.)
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