Alarm bells ringing for Real
Real Madrid’s stuttering form has seen them slammed by the Spanish media and that trend continued after the 13-time European champions salvaged a 2-2 draw at home to Club Brugge on Tuesday night after trailing 2-0 at half-time.
Despite earning a point, the result was ultimately disappointing for Zidane Zidane’s side.
‘A strain again’ read the front page of Madrid-based daily Marca on Wednesday, who said that the draw complicated the club’s ability to remain in the competition with their next match at Galatasaray on October 22 coming four days before they travel to eternal rivals Barcelona in La Liga.
Meanwhile AS’s headline simply reads: ‘Alarm’. They noted Zidane’s post-match quotes where he admits Los Blancos have “never had a first half like that”.
Casemiro spared Real Madrid’s blushes as they escaped with a point after Emmanuel Dennis’s double had threatened to give Brugge a famous Champions League victory at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Humbled 3-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in their Group A opener, Real were on course for a shock defeat after 21-year-old forward Dennis twice found the net despite almost losing his footing on both occasions.
Real captain Sergio Ramos halved the deficit before the hour while Ruud Vormer’s dismissal was followed by Casemiro equalising five minutes from time as the spoils were shared in a 2-2 draw.
"I like Cristiano and for me he is the best player in the world. I was sad when he left Madrid and I celebrated my goals like that to show them that they lost something."
Emmanuele Dennis. Club Brugge forward
Zidane, however, was scathing in his assessment of the goals conceded.
“The result is bad, but the reaction is good,” Zidane said. “We cannot be happy with the first half because we produced a 45 minutes like never before.
“I am not happy with the point because we wanted three, but I did like the reaction. The two goals we conceded were laughable. We weren’t concentrating where the opponents are at their strongest. They scored the first goal, they went forward, and then scored the second. I insist we cannot be happy but you always have to think about the positives.”
Zidane replaced goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois with Alphonse Areola at half-time and the on-loan PSG man made a superb save moments before Ramos reduced the deficit.
“Courtois is in a bad way and could not continue for the second half,” he added. “He is the Real Madrid goalkeeper alongside Areola. Everyone can have an opinion; I am not going to get involved. I am not worried at all. He wants to do well.”
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