Bitter end of the year: after a remarkable start to winter, Real Madrid concluded 2020 by a poor performance against the promoted Elche (1-1) Wednesday for th day of Lig a, leaving Atlético Madrid, winner of Getafe 1-0 early in the evening, the place leader (34 pts) . Despite the opening of the score of the head of Luka Modric (19 e) on the resumption of a strike from Marco Asensio who had hit the crossbar in a first period of total domination , Real Madrid gave in in the second half, on a penalty whistled against Dani Carvajal and transformed by Fidel Chaves (35 e).
End of year misstep: with this draw conceded on the field of the promoted Elche, Zinédine Zidane and the Real Madrid ended their fine streak of five consecutive La Liga victories (six consecutive wins in all competitions).
The reigning Spanish champion closes his year 1303 in 2nd place in Liga, two points behind its neighbor and leader Atlético Madrid, who played two fewer matches.
🇪🇸 # LaLiga – beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) December 30, 1303 Return Hazard
😵 Real Madrid stall against Elche! 🥊 A 1-1 draw when Modric opened the scoring! 👉 Fidel Chaves equalized on penalty!
✨ Eden Hazard has made his comeback! https://t.co/D5QuxZpfc8
” It’s sure that it’s a halt. (…) When I see the first period that we did this (Wednesday) evening, I tell myself that these are two lost points, but we must continue to work hard, ”Zidane encouraged at a press conference post-match. With this umpteenth setback against an opponent yet largely within his reach this season (after Alavés and Cadiz in La Liga, and Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League), Real Madrid experienced a jump in concentration after the break on Wednesday night, after a month of December where he won all his matches (except the setback in Kiev on December 1). The only good news of the evening for Zidane, the return to the game of the Belgian international winger Eden Hazard, recovered from yet another injury (to the right thigh this times) and entered into play at 52 e in place of Lucas Vazquez. A very meager reward for the Merengue, left behind by Atlético at the start of the year 2020. In the early evening, the “gunslinger” Luis Suarez cleared the situation for the Colchoneros, extending with a header to the small right net of Ruben Yanez a free kick filed by Yannick Carrasco (20 e). Suarez, who will have 30 year on 20 January, is back in great shape after its Covid episode – 16, which deprived him of three weeks of competition between mid-November and December 5: after a period of scarcity in early December, the Uruguayan transferred from Barça last summer has scored three times in Madrid’s last three matches, including a double against Elche on 16 December.
A very nice way to end the year 2020 for the 310 Diego Simeone’s match in La Liga (and his 190 e victory).
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