[Sport] Panenka against nightmares

[#Wittels-]

Benzema keeps the Whites alive with a penalty after two misses in Pamplona and Vinicius scores after a spectacular run on the wing

 

The day before the game, Pep Guardiola explained what was going to happen the next day when his team had suffered against Real Madrid. Those of Ancelotti would not tremble, they would hold on their feet. The City coach gave as an example the night in which the 0-3 behind Chelsea at the Bernabéu had been seen. At the Etihad they did not face that nightmare, but a summary of several of the last ones. Varane melted two years ago on the same stage, Vinicius leaving Manchester without even warming up, and Benzema stopped at the penalty spot after Sergio Herrera, the Osasuna goalkeeper, had stopped him twice at the same point in his goal. The Sadar. But Guardiola had already announced what would happen. The ball does not burn. He asks for it. Take a step forward.

 

The game was 4-2, City had chance after chance to keep scoring, and the Frenchman found himself with the ball perched eleven meters from Ederson and a whirlwind of cabals about where he would throw it after those two errors in a row . It broke up the storm in a big way. Like Panenka. It was his second goal of the night, the ninth of Madrid's last eleven in the Champions League. Real life in this European Cup is guarded by Benzema, who prevented that whole collection of bad memories from crushing the team and taking it out of the competition.

 

Almost everything else had been shadows of his last time at the Etihad, when he saw how Raphael Varane melted by his side and led to two goals. The Frenchman was in charge of the defense that day due to the absence of Sergio Ramos, sent off in the first leg and therefore sanctioned. This time the collapse was even faster. In minutes ten the heart of the defense had frayed and anyone seemed welcome in the small area: 2-0.

Another who must have felt sour aromas from the past was Vinicius, who on that night in which they fell in the round of 16 watched the entire game from the stands without having gone out to warm up even after a disagreement with Zidane. The Brazilian stored that time in the seat on the shelf of his worst memories, losing and not being able to help. This first leg of the semifinals was presented as the right opportunity for revenge, particularly because the full-back in front of him was not in the best condition.

 

Guardiola had woven a web of mystery around the circumstances in which he would present a lateral right. Walker and Stones had not trained for days due to injuries, and the afternoon before the game, they were only taken out to the field of work when the club employees took the journalists away and did not look at anyone. At the beginning of the game, Vinicius had the Stones in front of him, whose condition was at least doubtful. But in the midst of an avalanche from City, he could hardly prove it. In addition, Guardiola had also prepared extra protection for him, from Mahrez or Bernardo Silva. Stones only lasted half an hour on the field and left without a scratch from the Brazilian.

Fernandinho entered Stones' place and things got worse for the Brazilian. It escaped him, he crossed and City went 3-1. Ancelotti scolded him, again a technician confused with him. But on the next play Vini outwitted him on his own half, ran, and ran, and ended up scoring. He got rid of his little Mancunian thorn, but in this Champions League, life, and the pulse, are handled by Karim Benzema. Even Panenka: “That's trust and that's it. I have a lot of confidence in myself," he said later. Precisely what Guardiola had anticipated.

 

Link: https://elpais.com/deportes/2022-04-26/panenka-contra-las-pesadillas.html