Atletico Madrid 3-0 Osasuna: Atlético Madrid did what it had to do earlier in the day to keep the pressure on Real Madrid and eventually overtake the city rivals in the rankings.
Atletico Madrid gains a point lead over Los Blancos
In Wanda Metropolitano, Diego Simeone’s team dominated the visiting Osasuna. Yannick Carrasco opened the score just before half-time, on a pass from Antoine Griezmann. After the break, Saúl Ñíguez doubled the margin by driving the ball into the top corner. Substitute Ángel Correa determined the final score by sliding in very calmly face to face with Sergio Herrera: 3-0.
With three rounds to go, the battle for second place in Spain is still completely open. In the brotherly dispute between Madrid rivals Real and Atlético, Atlético Madrid has a point lead over Los Blancos. Real Madrid will host Rayo Vallecano and Athletic Bilbao in the Bernabéu in the remaining matches. In addition, they still have to visit Europa League finalist Sevilla.
Atlético Madrid, on the other hand, has to play twice away from home and only plays once at home. Espanyol-away is the next game for Simeone and associates, after which Real Sociedad awaits at home. The last league match is in Estadio de la Cerámica against Villarreal.
Furious Ancelotti calls for action: “Vinícius was called a monkey”
Speaking of Real, the frustration is great with Carlo Ancelotti after Real Madrid’s away match against Valencia. Not so much because of the defeat of his team (1-0), but mainly because of the events surrounding Vinícius Júnior. The Italian did not want to talk about football afterwards.
Ancelotti did not want to say anything about his team’s performance, because he did not want to distract attention from what happened to Vinícius at Estadio Mestalla. “If a player is called a monkey and a coach then has to think about changing that player, then something is very wrong with the league,” Ancelotti expressed his frustration to Spanish media.
Vinicius was racially abused from the stands. Real’s left winger even pointed out an alleged perpetrator. Still, the game continued, much to Ancelotti’s incomprehension. “This league has a serious racism problem. They can’t call Vinicius a monkey, can they? Without consequences? The match must then be stopped. That should be the only option,” said the coach.
Ancelotti spoke to Vinicius when the winger had had enough twenty minutes before the end and pointed to the stands. Ancelotti: “Vinícius didn’t want to continue playing. I told him it wouldn’t be fair if he had to stop. Because he is the victim, not the perpetrator.” The 22-year-old Brazilian lost his temper in extra time and was immediately sent a red card after dealing a blow during a riot.
