A man with a mustache and tattoos on his hands is in the foreground, while in the background, players and fans are celebrating in a stadium. — Álvaro Benito's critical opinion of Real Madrid despite the victory in the classic. | Real Madrid Confidencial

Camara — Álvaro Benito's critical opinion of Real Madrid despite the victory in the classic. | Real Madrid Confidencial

Álvaro Benito's Rant About Ancelotti and Real Madrid Despite the 2-1: 'what...'

Álvaro Benito analyzed the match of the Madrid team after defeating Atlético at Santiago Bernabéu.

05/03/2025 03:30:00h

Sergio Iglesias

Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid faced off in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 at the Santiago Bernabéu. Carlo Ancelotti's players struck quickly with a stunning goal by Rodrygo Goes in the opening minutes. The Brazilian forward evaded Javi Galán's mark, entered the box, and with an unstoppable left-footed shot, beat Jan Oblak.

In fact, the Whites were close to making it 2-0 on the scoreboard, but they couldn't capitalize on the opportunity. Additionally, they also claimed a possible penalty by Javi Galán, who clearly grabbed Rodrygo Goes inside the box.

Soccer player in action during a match, wearing a white uniform and facing an opponent in a red uniform.

Rodrygo Goes opened the scoring with a great shot. | Real Madrid Confidencial

Julián's Reaction and Brahim Díaz's Beautiful Goal

As the minutes passed, Atlético de Madrid began to take control of the match at Santiago Bernabéu. The visitors got closer and closer to Thibaut Courtois's goal and managed to equalize with a stunning goal by Julián Álvarez. That goal didn't wake up Real Madrid, which ended the first half with a somewhat average feeling after the good start.

However, Real Madrid managed to take the lead with a great individual play by Brahim Díaz. The international with Morocco left Giménez on the ground, who couldn't do anything to prevent the Madrid victory goal.

Álvaro Benito's Anger with Real Madrid

Despite the victory, during halftime, Álvaro Benito was very critical of the version shown by Real Madrid after the initial goal by Rodrygo Goes.

"It's hard to understand that a Champions League round of 16 against Atleti is played like this, with that defensive apathy. You go 1-0 up and it was time to step on the gas for half an hour. We all thought the team was going to get its act together, but in the end, we're seeing the team we've seen all season", he commented.

A player in a Real Madrid uniform raises his hands in a gesture of confusion or doubt during a match.

Real Madrid ended up winning the first leg with a great goal by Brahim Díaz. | Real Madrid Confidencial

Additionally, Álvaro Benito wasn't very happy with the first half performance by Eduardo Camavinga and Aurélien Tchouaméni either.

"Neither of them handles the defensive tactics. Tchouaméni doesn't have that ability to read what a defensive midfielder needs to do. Now Camavinga makes a conceptual error that ends in Julián's goal", he pointed out.

"That's why Modric has to play because he's light years ahead. If defensively these two give you what we think, but it's not real. Either the team starts running or they're going to win the match", he concluded.

➡️ First Team