Madrid (EFE) the imminent appointments he faces and, added to a great goal by Rodrygo, knocked down an Almería with his head in other battles and punished the moments of Madrid defensive disconnection.
With the obligation to improve the bad image left in Girona but mindful of the appointments marked in red on their calendar, the Copa del Rey final and the European tie against Manchester City, Real Madrid had a pleasant game to close wounds and gain momentum. The perfect scenario against an Almería team that understood that it was not a match to wear itself out, with massive rotations of its coach, defeated from the first minutes.
Benzema had before him one of those opportunities to improve his numbers, in continuous comparison with those of the record from last year, and increase his confidence. He gets fully into the fight with Lewandowski for being the top scorer in LaLiga and becoming the fourth scorer in the competition’s history. He surpassed Hugo Sánchez, with a hat-trick, the fifth of his career in a tournament in which he already has 236 goals after his mutation.
From the perfect assistant to the insatiable Cristiano Ronaldo to being the one who receives gifts with a Brazilian flavor. Vinícius, in a moment of astonishing superiority over any rival he faces, gave him the first after five minutes. Rodrygo, with a magical action to remember at the Bernabéu, dribbling past Samu with a self-pass from behind with a footstep on the ball, put the second on a golden platter for Karim.
Fernando, a great protagonist with up to thirteen interventions in the duel of the first round, the game that made the most stops by a goalkeeper in LaLiga, saved the first against Benzema before feeling helpless. Real Madrid stepped on the accelerator and erased their rival from the field, unable to respond with an approach by Rubi, who populated the midfield to torpedo the Madrid game and collapsed like a house of cards.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men played at ease, probably the most placid game of the course. The win would go as far as he marked his hunger. Looking forward to initial fun from Vinícius, who found Benzema on his heels again.
With his eleven, Rubi had made it clear that his eyes were set on the duel against Elche, a final next Tuesday. He seated Luis Suárez, who had just beaten Getafe, in one of the numerous rotations. Ramazani, with a headbutt hit a post, warned that Madrid’s relaxation would receive punishment.
Before, Benzema had time to close his hat-trick on the brink of rest. Ramazani sinned in his youth before Lucas Vázquez’s cut stuck to the bottom line and committed a penalty.
The gift was not missed by Karim, who deceived the goalkeeper with his body and placed the ball on the opposite side. The start of the win provoked Ancelotti’s anger at once again seeing how expensive moments of disconnection cost his team. Lucas and Militao didn’t get close, Ramazani put the ball in and Lázaro scored at will.
The match will be remembered for two magical actions by Rodrygo. If he amazed with his dribbling in the second goal, right at the beginning of the second half he did it with a right hand to a squad. He received the ball from Ceballos with his back to the goal, turned on the edge of the area and placed his shot in a place that Fernando could not reach.
Again, from superiority, came a concentration error from Real Madrid. One of those that are very expensive in duels of greatness like the ones around the corner. It was Kroos who committed it at the beginning of a play and the punishment came with a cross from Portillo and a powerful header from Robertone.
Real Madrid never felt that victory was in danger, as they wanted more goals and to get rid of the bad taste in their mouths from their excesses of confidence. He went into a phase of dominance without a goal because Rodrygo pardoned his double, alone, after a filtered pass from Benzema and his substitute, Marco Asensio, ran into a post first and then the crossbar with his usual left-footed shots.
The wood also prevented Benzema’s room at a time when the alarm lights went on at the Santiago Bernabéu when Vinícius asked for a change due to a blow to his knee. It is not usual in a footballer who plays everything and never gets injured. It was the product of a blow, a head-on collision with his defender.
He will rest in San Sebastián after seeing, again for protesting, a yellow, the tenth, and Real Madrid cross their fingers that the most destabilizing player is in the Cup final and against City.
. Datasheet:
4 – Real Madrid: Courtois, Lucas Vazquez, Militao, Rüdiger, Camavinga; Tchouameni, Thickets, Kroos (Nacho, m.72); Rodrygo (Marco Asensio, m.72), Benzema and Vinicius (Carvajal, m.82).
2 – UD Almeria: Fernando; Mendes, Chumi, Ely, Akieme (Centelles, m.75); De la Hoz (Robertone, m.57), Samu Costa (Melero, m.75); Puigmal (Eguaras, m.57), Portillo, Lázaro; and Ramazani (Luis Suárez, m.65).
Goals: 1-0, m.5: Benzema. 2-0, m.17: Benzema. 3-0, m.42: Benzema, from the penalty spot. 3-1, m.46+: Lazarus. 4-1, m.47: Rodrygo. 4-2, m.61: Robertone.
Referee: Guillermo Cuadra Fernández (Balearic Committee). Dismissed Vinicius (37) and Camavinga (74) for Real Madrid; and Lazarus (66) and Mendes (67) by the Almería.
Incidents: match corresponding to the thirty-second day of LaLiga Santander played at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium before 58,036 spectators.