Real Madrid’s priceless jewel and latest acquisition, whom the club have pursed since he was a teenager, capped off a routine 2-0 victory for Los Blancos against Atalanta in Warsaw on Wednesday night.
The game between the two most distinct sides in Europe — the Champions League winners (Real Madrid) and the Europa League winners (Atalanta) — only had one outcome; a Real Madrid victory.
Real Madrid, a name tantamount to success, added another silverware to their enviable collection after edging out a helpless Atalanta, with Federico Valverde and Kylian Mbappé delivering the sucker punches.
Los Blancos picked up from where they left off after a long 2023/24 season which culminated with a 15th UCL crown, leaving Europe and the world swooning at their unprecedented feat.
Before them and another successful European crown was Atalanta; punching their way to this epic clash by defeating an immovable force in Xabi Alonoso’s Bayer Leverkusen, who were yet to lose a game until Lookman’s spell binding final performance (hat-trick) downed them.
The two Italian tacticians leading the teams, Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelloti and Atalanta’s Gianpierro Gasperini, were full of praise for each other prior to kick off but had little to smile about as the game commenced.
For the 56, 402 fans inside Poland’s Narodowy Stadium, the first 45 minutes failed to live up to expectations, with both sides knocking the ball about casually with no real attacking verve.
However, Atalanta looked the more threatening and lively as compared to Real Madrid who implemented a cautious approach.
Atalanta were out of the traps after the interval with the back peddling Mario Pasalic inches away from finding the top corner; Pasalic, who sorted out his feet to steer his header for the top corner, was denied by the finger tips of Thibaut Courtois.
As compared to the soporific first half, Real Madrid had their keeper, who had fully extended his right arm, to thank for keeping them in the game.
Atalanta had the wind in their sails and looked to build on that, until they were pecked back right before the hour mark; a free flowing team move saw Jude Bellingham lay the ball into the path of Vinicius Junior who cut the ball back from the byline across the face of goal for Federico Valverde to prod home the opener.
The pandemonium had swung as Los Blancos took hold of the game; Vinicius Jr was played through on goal by Bellingham a minute after but he was denied by a firm right hand stop from Atalanta’s Musso.
The pressure from Real Madrid was relentless as they laid siege in Atalanta’s half, taking touches in turns.
The question of Real Madrid going two up became a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’, as the ominous feel of Atalanta’s wounds being deepened lingered.
And rightfully so, the man who had dreamt of following the path of his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo, was on hand to extend Real Madrid’s lead.
Kylian Mbappé, away from a cue of players, crept in surreptitiously to latch onto Bellingham’s pass and thump his effort into the roof of the net to extend Real’s lead and get off the mark on his debut.
The galacticos were at it once more, with Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo all playing a part in the goal.
Atalanta failed to lay a glove on Real Madrid and were made to rue not making the most of their half chances, while Ancelotti and his men remain ravenous for success.
The stars align for Ancelotti
The big question in the build-up to the game was about how Carlo Ancelotti would map up a functioning strategy to accommodate the big names in the team – and help them thrive. The answer was provided as the veteran manager started the game with a 4-3-3 formation, playing Mbappé through the middle allowing Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo to play either side of the French man in attack.
Although in the first half the game plan did not pan out as envisaged, the front three’s constant positional interplay (taking up different positions on the field) proved worrisome for Atalanta, as they dragged and stretched their defence.
When Real were off the ball and made to defend, Jude Bellingham – who played further forward in attacking situations – dropped in with Rodrgyo, Tchouameni and Valverde to form a four man midfield, leaving Mbappé and Vinicius up front.
The game plan was perfectly executed in the second half, as the stretching of the game meant more spaces opened up for Real Madrid to utilize the pace, sharpness, directness and 1 v 1 abilities of Vinicius Jr, Mbappé and Rodrygo.
Although much of the attention was centered on Mbappé, Vinicius – front runner for the 2024 Ballon d’or – proved his ingenuity, making himself an outlet for the team and a handful for the opposition.
Bellingham also made surging runs with the ball from deep, assisting Mbappé for the second goal, playing a crucial role for the first and putting on a show.
Rodrygo also looked bright, despite playing on the less fancied right wing, with his movements in-field causing havoc for Atalanta.
Federico Valverde, donning the retired Toni Kroos’ jersey, was just himself, running and working his socks off in midfield – a sight Real Madrid fans have grown accustomed to.
For the man of the moment, and the man tasked to be the face of Real Madrid’s new era, Mbappé, he had a relatively quiet game – bar his goal. The Frenchman led the line and showed glimpses of brilliance, a sight manager Carlo Ancelotti would gracefully behold throughout the season.
Ancelloti’s mustered XI proved their worth, with a plethora of stars, who also waited in the wings to join the fray; Andrey Lunin was an unused substitute on the bench, David Alaba faced a relapse in his recovery from knee injury and was not a part of the squad, Luka Modric’s experience was needed off the bench to see off the game, the youth of Guler saw him make a cameo appearance, the unpredictability of Camavinga could not be seen due to injury picked up in the lead to the game, and the hungry Endrick was made to soak in the ambience of Poland.
Real Madrid have put together a devastating team capable of ripping apart any other.
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Story by: Andrews Sefa Bamfo| univers.ug.edu.gh
