Spanish football giants bizarre 121-year first

1 year ago 75

By Damien McCartney and AP

The starting lineup of 1 of the astir celebrated football clubs successful the world, Real Madrid, sent experts searching done the past books arsenic they were downed by rivals Villarreal 2-1 successful a bizarre first.

It was the archetypal clip successful the club's 120-year past that nary Spanish players were successful the starting 11 of the La Liga match.

In the broadside were 3 Frenchmen, 2 Brazilians, 2 Germans, a Belgian, an Austrian, a Croat and a Uruguayan.

Gerard Moreno, who missed the World Cup for Spain owed to injury, led Villarreal with an assistance and a extremity against the Spanish and European champions.

Yeremy Pino enactment Villarreal deservedly up successful the 47th infinitesimal from a walk by Moreno aft Ferland Mendy mislaid possession with an errant pass. A handball by Villarreal's Juan Foyth allowed Karim Benzema to momentarily level from the punishment spot successful the 60th.

But different handball, this clip by Madrid defender David Alaba connected a walk by Foyth, sent Moreno to instrumentality the victor for Villarreal successful the 63rd.

Villarreal, which held Madrid to 5 consecutive draws astatine its stadium, took the inaugural and forced Madrid's defenders into sloppy passing. Francis Coquelin deed the station successful the 5th with a superb changeable with the backmost of his bottommost portion connected the turn, slicing the shot from a choky space past Thibaut Courtois. That unit led to the breakthrough by Pino conscionable aft halftime.

"No doubt, contiguous we played an bonzer lucifer against an bonzer team," Villareal manager Quiqué Setién said.

"We were amended successful galore aspects, kept the enactment successful their fractional of the tract and created our scoring chances. We accrued our unit due to the fact that we cognize that if you springiness them room, they tin origin you problems."

"I ever believed," Setién said. "Our commencement was not the champion one. There was the daze successful the nine with a caller manager who wants to alteration things adjacent though the squad is playing well. But I americium a antheral of convictions and knew that this would enactment out."

Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti called connected his defence to play better.

"We didn't support similar we privation to, we near excessively galore spaces betwixt our lines," Ancelotti said. "We person to construe the moments of the crippled better. Now we person to absorption connected the Super Cup."

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