FC Barcelona are already at the top of the table in La Liga after beating Real Sociedad at Anoeta and thanks to the draw at San Mamés (1-1) between Athletic Club and Real Madrid. Lopetegui’s men had won all the games so far but they couldn’t get the three points from Bilbao despite a great second half.
The Spanish coach decided to leave Casemiro on the bench in the first half and the result was losing the control of the game. Ceballos is not the right person for the stopper position and Los Blancos suffered a lot. As a result of this, Muniain opened the scoreboard before the halft time and Courtois, another time in the starting eleven, couldn’t do anything to avoid it.
Casemiro entered in the pitch in the second half and Los Blancos improved. They started to arrive with a lot of danger to Unai Simón goal, but the Athletic goalkeeper was one of the best players of the game. Asensio or Benzema had clear chances to score but Real Madrid had to wait until Isco came in -he was again on the bench- to get the draw thanks to a header after a great assist from Gareth Bale.
Even if Los Blancos needed to score another goal to get the three points, Lopetegui didn’t put Mariano Díaz on the bench, so the former Olympique Lyon player has still to make his debut with Los Blancos. Same situation for Álvaro Odriozola, who had to chance to play, especially with the good level showed by Daniel Carvajal.
This time, Los Blancos missed Cristiano Ronaldo, as the strikers weren’t that brilliant as they were in the start of the season. Despite the draw, Los Blancos knew how to play and improved a lt in the second half. There is no reason for being pessimistic, although Barcelona have already two points of advantage.
