The Bernabeu booed Kylian Mbappe but embraced Real Madrid after their tough week

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With the score at 0-0, Fede Valverde met a bouncing ball inside the box in stoppage time.

The angle and space to shoot were minuscule, but the Uruguayan didn’t think twice. He smashed the ball into the net to give Real Madrid the win.

A roar from bottom to top shook the Bernabeu stadium at that moment, lifting Kylian Mbappe (who was suspended after his red card against Alaves) and Armand Duplantis, Novak Djokovic and Simone Biles (who were present in the city because of the Laureus Gala) out of their seats.

In the technical area, Carlo Ancelotti and his assistants celebrated the goal with great excitement as if the match against Athletic Bilbao were a final — and in a certain way it was for them.

Ancelotti is close to leaving Real after being knocked out of the Champions League by Arsenal. The Italian celebrated the goal by hugging Valverde.

“I had no doubt that the fans were going to support us,” Ancelotti said in the press conference afterwards. “Both us and the fans believe we can achieve something this season.”

It wasn’t their best game, but Madrid are still alive in La Liga with six games to go. Barcelona top the league with 73 points and are four points clear.

Sure, the title challenge is still on — but this was no normal win.

Ancelotti said he was confident the fans would respond well (Gokhan Taner/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Throughout the season, there have been numerous occasions when the Bernabeu stadium has whistled at their team for their play and results. That’s why, after the Champions League devastation, there was a lot of expectation about how the Madrid fans would react.

However, even before kick-off — and contrary to what some might have expected — the crowd did not let their disappointment show when the MC read out the squad and Ancelotti’s names.

The only one who was clearly whistled at by part of the crowd was Mbappe when his image appeared on the stadium screens in the first half. The fact that he was sent off in the 37th minute against Alaves or his drab game against Arsenal might have had something to do with it.

But at the start, there were no big gestures of support for any of the players either. The fans started the game in silence as if waiting to see what the team’s response would be.

Without Mbappe, Ancelotti opted to play with six midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga and Valverde (at full-back) and Aurelien Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos, Luka Modric and Jude Bellingham (in their natural position).

Up front, Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior led the attack in a clear 4-4-2 system that was so successful last season.

For his part, Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde rested nine players from the starting eleven who are normally first-choice starters. They have the Europa League clash against Manchester United next Thursday to worry about. But neither Madrid’s change of system nor their opponents’ rotations served to improve Ancelotti’s attacking play in the first half.

Just as against Arsenal, the team was stuck in a rut, and only Vinicius was able to change the dynamic with individual moves that began to lift the fans’ spirits. Two weeks earlier, the Brazil international had been whistled in the 2-1 defeat to Valencia at the Bernabeu, but this time, on at least two occasions in the 15th and 25th minutes, he was applauded. In total, Vinicius put in a super complete performance with five successful dribbles, nine duels won, and three fouls won.

But during the whole match, the Madrid forward looked very serious. Even when Vinicius appeared to have scored a goal in the 82nd minute, he did not celebrate it with the fans — it would later be disallowed. Even his teammates slapped him to make him react, but he did not get involved, and at the end of the game, he quickly went to the dressing room without a change in demeanour.

“He is an extraordinary player,” Ancelotti added at the press conference. “He has a fantastic attitude, he has always tried, he scored the (disallowed) goal, he has put in several balls…. He has been determined as always. These have not been happy days for him and for the rest, but I liked his reaction on the pitch.”

Despite the bad moment the team was experiencing, the Bernabeu crowd also applauded Raul Asencio and Tchouameni after two good defensive actions in the first half.  In the second half, Endrick, Arda Guler and Brahim Diaz were also applauded when they warmed up and when they came on. Ceballos, Modric and Rodrygo were applauded when they left the pitch.

There were no more whistles, apart from for Mbappe. Mbappe spent the second half cheering very expressively from his seat and signing T-shirts for the children.

The only person booed was Mbappe (Gokhan Taner/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Ancelotti looked tense, hardly gave any instructions and came off the bench less than usual. He didn’t need to either — Madrid had begun to have more fluidity in attack thanks to Bellingham playing as a second striker. A succession of chances from the Englishman brought the Bernabeu to life.

In the 87th minute, Bellingham went down in the box, but no penalty was awarded. This and other decisions led to much of the fans’ displeasure being vented against the referee, who was subjected to whistles.

Valverde then drew applause for a long-range shot in the 90th minute. It was the prelude to his winning goal, which he celebrated angrily by beating his chest.

Madrid had accumulated 74 per cent of possession, had seven shots on target to Athletic’s one, took 14 corners (Athletic only one) and were reminiscent of last season’s side in their consistency of play but above all in their commitment.

“It was a good game from the team, we were quite aggressive, we didn’t concede a goal, we were more solid…. Let’s see if we continue to improve,” said Ancelotti.

After the game, some players like Bellingham ended up lying on the floor with tiredness and the Bernabeu rewarded their effort by chanting “Como no te voy a querer, Como no te voy a querer!” (How can I not love you).

It was hard to predict, but far from being a difficult night at the Bernabeu, the victory served to reconcile the fans with Madrid, who will now probably go into the last few games of the season and Ancelotti’s final days in better spirits.

(Top photo: Gokhan Taner/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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