Gain distance – that’s the motto of Austria’s soccer team captain David Alaba, who might do well to temporarily turn his back on Madrid and set his sights on a new goal, namely successful World Cup qualification with the national team.
In the Spanish capital, the noise in the newspaper forest is gigantic, the humiliation in the “Clasico” has left its mark on leaders Real Madrid. The “White Ballet”, which appeared all in black to match the mood, was performed according to all the rules of football art in the 0:4 against archrival FC Barcelona. Alaba himself was far from the sovereignty that characterizes him as a leading player and defense chief. The 29-year-old Viennese had to be partly to blame for all four goals conceded. When Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was 0-1 (29th), Alaba tried to clear with his foot instead of his head, which went wrong. Before the 0:2 (38th), the ex-Bayern star lost the header duel with goalscorer Ronald Araujo (38th), the 0:3 (47th) by Ferran Torres was preceded by an adventurous pass to Eduardo Camavinga. At 0: 4 (51st) – again by Aubameyang – Alaba canceled the offside with a positional mistake. An unfortunate night, which was acknowledged with whistles from the approximately 60,000 fans in the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
Strong criticism of Ancelotti
“His worst game in a Real jersey,” wrote the Spanish “Marca” about Alaba’s performance, who had tried tirelessly, at least until the end, to use advances on the left wing to cosmeticize the result.
“It’s sad because defeats in the Clasico always hurt. We were really bad and they were very good. The result says it all,” explained Real defender Nacho Fernandez after the final whistle. FC Barcelona, who have been unbeaten since January 20, are third in the league with nine rounds to go and a match less than “only” twelve points behind.
For the sports magazine “As”, the coach was primarily responsible for the shame. “Xavi’s team is dancing with Ancelotti’s. The Italian’s bizarre decisions hasten the disaster.” Carlo Ancelotti had blown to catch up after the break with three instead of four, the experiment was declared over after 18 minutes and two more goals conceded.
Source: Nachrichten
