The midweek match produced a goalless draw at the Santiago Bernabéu, with Real Madrid failing to find the target despite having the lion's share of possession and chances against Osasuna. The game started quietly but as the minutes passed Real Madrid started to show more of what they had for Osasuna and eventually the guests tried to defend more. However they deserve recognition for their defensive organization as the block they created was maybe impossible to break with all the attemps from the white team.
The first dangerous moment of the night came on 22 minutes, when Asensio drove forward on a swift counter-attack before feeding Camavinga, but his right-footed effort ended up in the side-netting. Two minutes later, controversy reigned as Torró stamped on Vinicius Jr.'s foot inside the Navarran penalty area, but the referee opted not to point to the spot. With half-an-hour on the clock, Militão tried his luck from range, but his fierce drive was punched clear by Herrera. One minute later, Vinicius Jr. picked up the ball off-balance and his sweetly-struck shot whipped just the wrong side of the post.
Most of the threat Ancelotti’s men posed in the first half came from long distance shots that went over the bar or just wide, and Los Blancos were vulnerable to the odd transition attack from the Basques - though Camavinga and Casemiro both plugged those gaps efficiently.
After the re-start, Ancelotti brought on Rodrygo for Camavinga. In the 50th minute, Osasuna had their best chance of the game from a counter-attack which saw the ball squared to Moncayola, but his side-footed effort came back off the post with Courtois beaten. The game was now being played at a frantic pace as Real Madrid launched attack after attack. On 61’, a fine cut-back by Benzema inside the area took him away from two defenders but his left-footed shot struck the crossbar.
The Whites now had Osasuna pinned back in their penalty area and although the visitors struggled to get out of their own half, they remained solid at the back. Casemiro almost caught out Herrera on 81’ when his shot from inside his own half swerved narrowly over the bar. Marcelo also went close when the left-back linked up well with Vinicius Jr. seven minutes later, but he failed to beat the keeper in a one-on-one. There were only time four minutes of stoppage time added on and Real Madrid kept attacking but the deserved goal just wouldn’t come.
It’s worth mentioning that Real Madrid had some complaints about the refereeing as there were a few doubtful events during the match. After the game, Ancelotti expressed his unease with Soto Grado's decision to signal just four minutes of stoppage time. He said: "The added time was little. I don't have the stopwatch, but the reality is that today's football needs effective time, there is no other way."
Thibaut Courtois also expected the referee to give more added time while Real Madrid were piling the pressure on Osasuna in pursuit of a potential winner. "It is difficult to know who adds and what they add. I went to ground at the Camp Nou because of some discomfort and they gave seven. If you make four changes, plus the goalkeeper's discomfort... The problem is that there is no criterion and you do not know what they add and the reason", Courtois told Movistar.
Dani Carvajal agreed with Courtois' remarks and stressed that the Osasuna goalkeeper wasted a lot of time in the second half.
"Herrera has wasted four minutes. There were two changes at the end in which the players started walking. They are giving six, seven and eight minutes in all the games and four seems very little", said Dani Carvajal. Besides the players and the coach there were also staff members who spoke about the refereeing. Real Madrid's director of institutional relations, Emilio Butragueno, expressed his belief that there was a penalty that wasn't given on Vinicius Junior.
After the match Ancelotti appeared as usually in an online press conference. He said: "The penalty is a complicated issue. All I saw, was Vinicius asking the referee to take a look at VAR and he didn't get why. Then I understood why, he stamps on him and I think it's a penalty. Why VAR did not intervene I don't know. I told the referee I felt he hadn't added enough injury time given how the game had gone. I asked him for an explanation but it wasn't very convincing".
He added: “I like what I saw from the team. Less so in the first half because we didn't switch the ball quickly enough, we played down the left-hand side too often looking for options. The second half was much better, I was pleased with the display and I can't fault the players, they gave it their all. We have to keep going".
Substitutions: “We didn't need more physical presence, we needed to be more incisive in getting into the box. We had three or four crosses which flew across goal and all we needed was to anticipate the move a bit better to get into the right place to score. That's now three games that we’ve played at home against teams which, on the balance of what we’ve done on the pitch, we deserved to win. These matches are tougher for us because of the characteristics of the squad".
Dangerous crosses: "We’ve got wingers who are really dangerous in one-on-one situations and sometimes in these games we need more presence in attack. It's just the characteristic of this team. In the second half, we used this attribute and came in from wide positions a lot. We put in some very dangerous crosses, especially from Marcelo and Benzema, which almost went in the goal".
Koeman: "I've been sacked several times and I'm still here, alive and happy. Getting sacked is part of the job and you have to give it everything you've got until the day you're sacked. You have to look forward while keeping a clear conscience. He’s giving everything he has to give".
Below are the ratings for the game against Osasuna:
Starting XI:
Thibaut Courtois: 6.0
Did not face a single shot on target. Osasuna had one chance on the counter, but aside from that Courtois was only called upon for quick distribution.
Dani Carvajal: 5.0
First appearance for the fullback since his injury relapse about a month ago. The rust was there, but got 70 minutes under his belt.
Eder Militao: 7.0
Solid display from the Brazilian who nipped any potential Osasuna counter attack before it started. Anticipated Osasuna passes and did well to keep Madrid’s line high.
David Alaba: 7.0
Like Militao, snuffed out any dangerous attacks and was crucial in keeping the defensive line high to sustain attacking pressure. Would have liked to see him get on the ball more and potentially interchange with Casemiro when Real Madrid had possesion.
Ferland Mendy: 5.5
Struggled with ideas to break down a deep block in the final third. Consistently choose the lateral or backward pass and his crossing was off on the night.
Casemiro: 5.0
Attempted to lob Herrera from the halfway line late in the game. Started to act an auxiliary forward in the box to latch onto crosses.
Toni Kroos: 8.0
Completed 112/118 passes and 17/19 long balls. Had a number of long distance shots that he failed to get on target.
Camavinga: 4.0
Poor game from the teenager. Picked up an early yellow, but never restricted his game and nearly picked up a second booking in the first half. Looked uncertain and timid in the final third. Ancelotti substituted the Frenchman at halftime.
Marco Asensio: 6.0
The Spaniard had a few driving runs through the middle which helped open up the Osasuna defense. Carvajal played a great ball into the box from the right half-space which Asensio nearly connected with to open the scoring.
Vinicius Junior: 7.0
Osasuna did a good job of surrounding Vinicius every time he got the ball and limiting his space with 2 or 3 defenders. Managed to still carve open opportunities. including a shot from outside the box that nearly nestled into the bottom corner of the net.
Karim Benzema: 6.5
Nearly opened the scoring with a shot that rattled off the woodwork. Just seemed to be a moment late on every cross, but credit is due to the Osasuna defense who were spectacular.
Subs:
Rodrygo Goes: 6.0
Added some much needed width on the right and beat his man on a number of occasions, but the final ball was sometimes lacking.
Marcelo: 7.5
Perfect game for Marcelo: no transition defense required, sit back in a left back quarter back role and deliver first class crosses. The Brazilian arguably should’ve been brought on earlier.
Lucas Vazquez: 5.0
Little to note from Vazquez’s 20 minute cameo at right back.
Eden Hazard: 5.0
Provided very little spark in his 20 minutes on the field. Vinicius had the opportunity to square him a pass to break the deadlock, but chose to shoot instead and missed the target.
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