Real Madrid struggled to win 1-0 over Espanyol in the fifth match of the Spanish La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Saturday (9/22). The only Madrid goal created by Marco Asensio in the 41st minute made use of assists from Luka Modric.
The referee had annulled the goal because Asensio was considered in an offside position. But with the help of Video Assistant Referee (VAR), the goal was validated because through Asensio replays it was not in an offside position.
Left behind 0-1 to make Espanyol start to dare to play more forward to attack after attack on Madrid’s defense in the second round. Espanyol continued to put pressure on the Madrid defense to score an equalizer. The situation several times made the Los Blancos defense quite panic.
One of the panic when Sergio Ramos blunders almost made his team concede. He tried to passed the ball to his partner without seeing the position of Borja Iglesias nearby.
The bait ball was immediately struck by Iglesias. He immediately shot into the penalty box and fired a shot. Luckily, his shot hit the crossbar, which was guarded by Thibaut Courtois.
Entering the 69th minute, it was Ramos’s turn to almost score against Espanyol. His kick ball from inside the penalty box was still able to be denied by the visiting goalkeeper, Diego Lopez.
Madrid again got a chance in the 83rd minute. Mariano Diaz gave feedback to Marcos Llorente in the penalty box.
Isco’s substitute in the second half opened fire. However, the shot was still able to be secured by Diego Lopez because it was quite weak.
Julen Lopetegui did try to put in two players with minimal minutes playing Diaz and Llorente in the second round. Diaz replaced Karim Benzema in the 60th minute.
There were no more goals until the referee blew the long whistle. Madrid successfully won three points by beating visiting Espanyol 1-0.
Real Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui assesses league matches held a few days after Champions League are dangerous matches. According to him, the match was risky to make players tired.
“Fatigue due to two high-tension matches in three days can make the team stumble. Moreover, if the opposing team knows how to play the right football,” Lopetegui said as quoted by BolaSport.com from the US website.
“Fortunately, we were able to get three points. We could not hold the ball for long in the last 15 minutes. Indeed, after the Champions League matches were always dangerous, we knew that,” he continued.
The victory over Espanyol occurred three days after Los Blancos won 3-0 over AS Roma in the first matchday of the Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday (09/19/2018).
