The Most Painful Defeat of Real Madrid Against a Transparent Osasuna

No one remembers a defeat as painful as the one Real Madrid inflicted on an Osasuna that arrived in Chamartín as a revelation team and left as a caricature of itself. Neither Vinicius' second hat-trick of the season, after the one achieved in the heroic and misleading victory against Dortmund, nor Bellingham's first goal, nor even the notable debut of central defender Asencio, assistant in the Englishman's goal, could overcome the sadness of Madrid fans due to the muscular injuries of Rodrygo, Lucas Vázquez, and, above all, the stretcher exit of Éder Militao, all pointing to a very serious knee ailment.

A complicated afternoon was expected, marked by those seven goals conceded by Ancelotti's troops against Barça and Milan, but in the sporting field, it was a walk in the park for the reigning League and European champion, let's not forget. Even Lunin could enjoy the Navarrese favors to give the assist that sealed the victory. Besides the drama of injuries plaguing especially their defense, the worst news for Madrid was Kylian Mbappé's performance. Once again, the Bondy star looked anxious, ineffective in front of goal. It has been four matches without scoring.

Everything was quite strange at the Bernabéu. To begin with, the schedule, since at two in the afternoon the big teams are not used to playing. Next, not the expected and emotional minute of silence, with the display of a huge Valencian flag on one side, but rather that image of coach Vicente Moreno in a box, far from the bench. He was serving a sports sanction, but he deserved the unanimous applause for helping in his town to try to mitigate the DANA drama. An impossible mission because the families of the victims find no solace.

Tense calm in the stands after the recent setbacks and expectation before Ancelotti's moves after locking himself in the locker room with his squad and proclaiming that he had found the diagnosis of the white disease and the remedy. The Italian made three changes compared to the eleven that failed against the Lombards and modified the formation. Fran García, Camavinga, and Rodrygo came in instead of Mendy, Tchouaméni, and Modric, and the system was a clear 4-3-3 in attack, with four midfielders when defending because the Brazilian dropped back to help Lucas Vázquez.

Madrid came out intense and pressing, launching three corner kicks in the first three minutes and up to seven in a quarter of an hour. The reds were timid, although they did not suffer great chances to concede until the accidents began. Less than 20 minutes had passed when Rodrygo had to retire due to a muscular injury, another one this season, and Brahim came in. Shortly after, while Carletto insisted on demanding his players act very close and compact in defense, Militao broke down in a silly play. He was trying to finish in a strategic action, but his right knee got stuck. He left on a stretcher crying. It was not the left joint from which he had surgery for an anterior cruciate ligament rupture, but it did not look good. Opportunity for the debutant Asencio, who immediately showed his credentials by advancing boldly from the back.

There was no continuity, but Vinicius took advantage of the first serious distraction of the reds to open the scoring in an individual action. He went to celebrate it with the disputed Carletto in a very symptomatic gesture. Suddenly, Lucas Vázquez went to the ground with muscular ailments. Ancelotti did not want to close the third window of changes and preferred to hold until the break with the Galician broken. Bad news for Madrid, although they sentenced in another unexpected play. The debutant Asencio was smart, launched a great long ball, Moncayola missed it, Herrera hesitated, and Bellingham took advantage to lift with subtlety over the timid exit of the goalkeeper and debut as a scorer this season.

Against a disappeared rival, without that intensity that characterizes the Pamplonians, the second half was a bath and massage for a Real Madrid that came out with Modric instead of Lucas and showed lethal with spaces. Without needing to risk more than necessary, the goals fell almost by inertia or, rather, because it is better not to give gifts to great players like Vinicius.

Osasuna took a corner, Lunin blocked well and assisted Vinicius with a great long ball. The Brazilian went past Areso as he pleased, much slower in the one-on-one, and also surpassed Herrera, once again indecisive when coming out far from the area, with the ease of the greats. Ballon d'Or chants for Vini, even more so after completing a great afternoon on an individual level with the hat-trick. Boyoma fell asleep, Brahim cleaned it up for him, and the Brazilian appreciated it.

With everything resolved, the merengue mission was to get Kylian Mbappé to score and end his temporary drought. But there was no way for the Frenchman to score, although he even asked for free kicks. He was as imprecise as he was frustrated. In the final stretch, a wink from Carletto to the stands and minutes for Güler and Endrick.