Real Madrid won a Derby that left a bitter taste in the mouth while Barca’s league form continued vs. Elche. We’ll cover all that and more in this week’s column.
By Ben Hayward, LaLiga expert
Madrid Derby overshadowed by racist abuse aimed at Vinícius Juníor
Real Madrid’s derby win over Atlético at the Metropolitano made it six out of six for Los Blancos in LaLiga this season, but the match was marred by racist abuse aimed at Vinícius Juníor by the home side’s ultras before and during the match.
Sickening videos emerged ahead of the game in which chants of ‘Vinícius is a monkey’ could be clearly heard. Those continued inside the stadium and highlighted a serious issue in Spanish sport and also society.
Vinícius had been the subject of criticism last week for his dance moves when celebrating his goals and a guest on Spanish sports show El Chiringuito used an expression – ‘hacer el mono’ (loosely ‘to monkey around’) – when calling for the Brazilian to ‘respect his opponents’ on the pitch and suggested he should ‘go to a sambadrome’ if he wants to dance.
Whether the expression was meant as a racial slur or not by the president of Spanish football agents Pedro Bravo, it was an unfortunate choice of words at best and clearly his rant contained racial and zenophobic undertones, even if El Chiringuito have claimed otherwise.
On Saturday, Vinícius released a video on Twitter in which he condemned the racial abuse and vowed to keep on dancing. And he was good to his word as he and compatriot Rodrygo danced together after the latter gave Madrid the lead in the derby following an exquisite chipped pass by Aurélien Tchouaméni and a fine first-time finish from the Brazilian.
Vinícius almost made it 2-0 himself later in the half, but his shot after a trademark run down the left cannoned off the post and into the path of Fede Valverde, who fired in his third goal in as many games.
Mario Hermoso headed a late consolation for Atletico following a corner, but Madrid march on and significantly, Los Blancos have found a way to win games without the injured Karim Benzema.
“I think the team has replaced Karim well,” Carlo Ancelotti said after the game. “Everyone who has played in his position has done well. Today, Rodrygo scored a spectacular goal. The squad is in very good health.”
It certainly looks that way as Madrid sit on top of the table with 18 points, eight ahead of seventh-placed Atlético.
Atlético coach Diego Simeone handed a rare start to Antoine Griezmann, who is being restricted in terms of minutes in order for the club to avoid an automatic €40 million payment to Barcelona, but the French forward’s presence could not prevent a second defeat of the season for the Rojiblancos.
“We understood that Antoine could go out from the start and he worked hard as a second striker, dropping deep to link up and to the wings in the second half in order to play with the forwards,” Simeone said. “He played an important game, like several others.”
The Argentine could not resist a veiled dig at Madrid and also the media, though. “They remind me of the team we had with [Diego] Costa,” he said. “When people criticised us…”
Atletico travel to the Sánchez Pizjuán after the international break in another big game. “We’ll keep working,” Simeone said. “And we look to Sevilla knowing what we have to improve and what we are doing well.”
Three and easy for Barcelona
Barcelona did not have to be at their best against Elche, but still scored three times in a routine win at Camp Nou.
Robert Lewandowski was on target twice, taking his tally for the season to 11 goals in just eight games – and eight in six in LaLiga. The Polish striker opened the scoring and netted the third early in the second half with two fairly simple finishes by his standards, with Memphis Depay netting the pick of the three as he turned skilfully and smashed a shot into the roof of the net for the second. Pedri also saw a goal ruled out by VAR in a match Barça were expected to win easily anyway, but which was conditioned somewhat by the red card for Elche’s Gonzalo Verdu inside 14 minutes.
Barça remain unbeaten, with five wins and a draw from their six games – and only one goal conceded in LaLiga this season. The Blaugrana stay just two points behind Real Madrid ahead of the international break.
Xavi’s team selection caused some surprise here, with Depay and Franck Kessié both in the line-up against Elche, but the coach said: “It’s squads that win titles, not one starting XI.”
Barça’s former midfield great is approaching a year in the job. “We have a very clear idea of how we play: to be protagonists with the ball,” he said. “We know the pressure and the demands at this club. The team has improved a lot since we arrived in November.” No doubt.
Betis and Athletic impress early on
Real Betis and Athletic Club might not have been the favourites for the two remaining Champions League positions behind Real Madrid and Barcelona at the season start, but those two clubs currently occupy third and fourth in LaLiga.
Betis made it five wins out of six, this time beating promoted club Girona 2-1 at the Benito Villamarín on Sunday. Both goals were scored by the dependable Borja Iglesias, who now has six in as many games this season. “Starting the season with 15 points from 18 is a very high level of performance,” coach Manuel Pellegrini said. Their only blip? A narrow 2-1 loss at Real Madrid. Impressive.
And at San Mames on Saturday, Athletic came out on top in an entertaining encounter against Rayo Vallecano. Brothers Iñaki and Nico Williams were on the scoresheet together for the first time, both latching onto long passes with extraordinary control and speed before producing fine finishes. Iñaki is set to make his debut for Ghana in this international break, while Nico has been called up to the Spain squad. Under Ernesto Valverde, Athletic have made their best start in 27 years and fans gave a warm welcome to midfielder Ander Herrera, who recently returned to the Basque club after signing from PSG on loan and came on as a substitute. “It’s a perfect night,” he said. “But the season is long and the marks are handed out in May.”
Osasuna, beaten 2-0 at home by Getafe on Sunday, drop to fifth. Villarreal are sixth after a 1-1 draw with improving Sevilla (now 15th, also on Sunday) and Valencia move up to ninth after a 3-0 win at home to Celta Vigo on Saturday.
(Images from IMAGO)
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