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All leagues, like many film scripts, have two possible endings: the match of the century or the tribute match. This is one of the seconds. For a Betis with eleven casualties, it will help to say goodbye to some of those who are leaving (Bravo, Sokratis, Abner, who knows if Fekir, Marc Roca or Miranda) and compensate for deep substitutes, and to Madrid, to thank Kroos for the ten years of excellent service and as a dress rehearsal for the Wembley final, without pressure, rival, own and other people’s motivation, ambient temperature and, above all, reward being comparable. Two years ago the League had the same ending, an inconsequential Madrid-Betis on the eve of the Champions League final against Liverpool. The thing ended in a tie at zero, a number that well defines the usefulness of the match (follow today’s match live on As.com).
In Madrid The Wembley eleven is expected, a plan prepared by Ancelotti for weeks under the comfortable shadow of a League won early. The Italian closes today a week of physical training and will dedicate the next to the tactical level. While, He has been regulating the troops so that the London party does not overwhelm them either by excess or by defect. Since the Classic Madrid has played seven games and Bellingham has only played four, two of them incomplete. The rest has been great for him: two goals and two assists.
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JJ GUillnEFE
The rest of the main players have had the same treatment. Vinicius has not started in any of the four most recent League games. He did not play the last two and came off the bench in the previous two. Rodrygo has only been in 30 of the last 270 minutes of the League. Kroos has not played a full match since February. Ancelotti has forgiven Carvajal for leaving for Granada and Villarreal. Rdiger, Militao, Camavinga and Valverde have followed a similar plan. If Madrid has anything left over to prepare for next Saturday’s duel, it is time. Today they will all be there, probably with Nacho, whose departure is still between unofficial and presumed, and Courtois. The Belgian has played three games after his injury, has made fourteen stops and has not conceded a goal. That’s enough for Ancelotti, although it should be noted that the rivals have been two relegated teams (Cdiz and Granada) and the one with the lowest budget (Alavs).
Goodbye to the teacher
The clash also offers a sentimental appeal. Kroos will say goodbye to the Bernabu (and to football after the Euro) 463 games, 28 goals, 98 assists, 33,911 passes of all types, four Champions Leagues and whatever arises, four Leagues and fifteen more titles later. He does it on the crest of the wave, which makes the crying more inconsolable.
Betis, for its part, reached the penultimate matchday between three waters: the Europa League, the Conference and nothing. He fell before the Real, but Madrid’s draw at Villarreal assured them the second prize. The team could do better, but in the final stretch misfortunes have piled up. Bakambu arrived in winter, although late due to the African Cup, he later suffered a muscle injury that kept him out for a month and a half and when he seemed to be getting wind of the team, he broke it again in the Seville derby. I ended up in the operating room. Chimy Vila, another January reinforcement, has contributed little: only six games, one red card and an injury in Girona that has kept him out until next year. However, the most heartfelt mishap has been that of Isco, who broke his fibula playing against Las Palmas. He had surgery on Monday and will not return until September. He was the team’s third scorer (nine goals) and the top assist (seven assists). That misses the Bernabu, a stadium in which he went from heaven to ground. Added to this is that Fekir, the other elf, did not recover from a broken cruciate until November. And that the sale of Canales opened a gap that was difficult to close. To these fallen we must add Rui Silva, Pezzella, Guido, Carvalho, Ruibal and Fornals.
old acquaintance
The party will allow Pellegrini’s umpteenth return to what was his home. He only spent one season in Madrid, the first of the second was Florentino in the most galactic project in history (Cristiano, Kak, Benzema and Xabi Alonso in the same lot). The results failed, because the team did not win the League despite adding 96 points, They suffered the Alcorconazo in the Cup and fell in the second round of the Champions League against Lyon, but their chemistry with Florentino Pérez also failed. The president has a way of thinking about what coaches are and should do and my differences with him occurred at the beginning of the season. I even offered to leave at that time. It didn’t happen. The campaign passed, but I knew that I was out of Madrid, whether or not I won a title. “I would have liked to stay a couple more years,” he once said.
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Since then, the Chilean coach has faced Madrid 16 times with three different teams and They only beat him with Mlaga (3-2), in that 2012 match in which Mourinho sat Casillas to put Adan and open a wound that never heals. With Betis the Chilean has done wonderfully. In each of his four seasons he has taken the team to Europe and won a Copa del Rey. He has earned himself a quiet afternoon today at the Bernabu.
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