A relief for Vinicius and Valverde, two youngsters in trouble

Straight

Valverde, in the action of Madrid's second goal.Manu Fernandez (AP)

The arteries of the administrative Rabat tried to absorb the impossible in the middle of the afternoon: an endless line of cars arriving at the Moulay Abdellah stadium by the straightest path.

Through the secondary roads, everything was more accessible and also a trip to deep Morocco, with chicken, egg and greengrocer stalls in an area of ​​low houses that did not invite too much tourism.

It was also difficult for Madrid to find the route to victory.

Find her and then make her good.

He lent a hand to the Egyptian defense, which opened up on the brink of rest to the relief of Vinicius.

It was, above all, the night of the white balms.

That of the Brazilian, anguished in recent times by the paving, and that of Valverde, who scored again with the meringues 13 games later.

The opening of a trump,

with a final culmination of the heel of Ceballos and the pipiolo Arribas, who had more plot than expected.

"With 2-0 we thought it was finished, but this is not football," warned Carlo Ancelotti, who this Thursday recovers Militão and Benzema, who travel from Madrid and will test themselves in training prior to Saturday's final against Al Hilal (20.00).

Not to Courtois, who stays at home.

AHLAl Ahly

1

Mohamed El-Shenawy, Ali Maâloul, Mohamed Abdelmonem, Mohamed Hany, Mahmoud Metwaly, Amr Soleya, Aliou Dieng, Hussein El Shahat (Taher Mohamed, min. 74), Ahmed Abdelkader, Mohamed Magdy (Kahraba, min. 87) and Mohamed Sherif

RMA Real Madrid

4

Andriy Lunin, Nacho, Rüdiger, Camavinga, Alaba, Aurelien Tchouameni, Modric (Álvaro Odriozola, min. 94), Kroos (Dani Ceballos, min. 77), Federico Valverde, Vinicius Junior (Sergio Arribas, min. 97) and Rodrygo ( Mariano, min 95)

Goals

0-1 min.

42: Vinicius Junior.

0-2 min.

46: Federico Valverde.

1-2 min.

64: Ali Maâloul.

1-3 min.

92: Rodrigo.

1-4 min.

98: Sergio Arribas.

Referee

Andrés Matonte

Yellow cards Aurelien Tchouameni (min. 84)

More information

Real Madrid thrashes with suspense

Beyond the abundant theories and hot views on the Vinicius affair, kicked around in recent days, a cold fact made it clear that the Brazilian did not pedal the same outside as at home.

Until his trip to the other side of the Strait in search of the Mundialito, the winger had only scored five of the 13 goals this season at home: 38%.

And he had achieved more than half of them when it was still summer, in Vigo, Cornellà and against Celtic.

Since then, he had barely been able to score the one in Leipzig, in October, and against Villarreal in the Cup, three weeks ago.

A reality that contrasted with his last season, in full growth, when all the literature around the end was about his unexpected explosion.

So, of his 22 goals, 14 were celebrated in foreign fields: 63%.

A crushing statistic that helps to understand the plight of the youngster every time he has put on the Madrid shirt away from the Bernabéu in recent months.

A traffic jam that has overflowed since his visit to Son Moix, as Ancelotti assumed with his

in the preview of the Club World Cup semifinals, defending his boy and demanding "Spanish football" to fix what he considers to be another general problem. that yours

In Rabat he was helped by the Egyptian defense, author of a huge blunder on the brink of the break that placed Vini in front of El Shenawy, who stung the ball with a light touch.

He had had it a quarter of an hour before, when Rodrygo sent him a pass that - without excessive angle - sent it out.

And in full trouble to close the victory, Vini still scratched a penalty that he needed from the VAR - the referee communicated his decision to the stands in the most concise way possible according to FIFA's instructions for this tournament - which Modric later missed.

Neither Asensio on Sunday in Mallorca nor the Croatian in Rabat hit the mark from 11 meters.

The whites suffered to throw the gate.

Everything had been concluded in the second 58 of the restart with Valverde's emboque.

Rodrygo missed a one-on-one and the Uruguayan took advantage of the rebound.

It wasn't great, nothing like the fall thunder from outside the area, but it helped her find comfort.

A scoring rocket until October, the Uruguayan's last goal dated from November 2, against Celtic at home.

That was his eighth goal and, in view of the fact that the 10 that Ancelotti had entrusted to him were very likely going to fall short, the Italian slipped the figure of 15. But that was where the midfielder stopped, with Madrid and also with his selection in Qatar.

In this time of decline, however, Carletto's insistence on him has not slackened despite his obvious collapse.

In a midfield that changes almost every three days, he has only been given free play against Cacereño and Valencia.

Ceballos emerged from the gloom, Kroos and Modric came in and out, Camavinga made several position changes, but he was always fixed.

"Federico, little by little, returns," said Carletto.

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