La Fiesta Acaba En Susto

Heading into the Metropolitano, Madrid is setting sail with full force. Vinicius has regained his top speed, becoming untouchable for the opposition. Mbappé is starting to score goals worthy of his reputation. Bellingham doesn’t seem bothered by his shoulder injury. Valverde is a powerhouse, like a hydroelectric plant. Rodrygo is waking up. A month later, the reigning champion, now a pursuer, is reemerging—and so are the nervous moments. Despite clear progress, it almost ended badly. Alavés, who were down 3-0 in the 84th minute and seemed defeated, died fighting in Madrid’s area, chasing an equalizer.

Fifty-five seconds in. Vinicius takes the ball on the left, skips past Mouriño with two Ballon d’Or-worthy strides, skirts the byline, and gifts the goal to Lucas Vázquez, the right-back and the only supposed substitute in the lineup, who finishes like a striker. Just like Carvajal did against Espanyol. Two plus two equals nine in Madrid. That’s what the game seemed like—Madrid, for the first time this season, got straight to business (a goal before halftime, and 17 before this match). Perhaps it was under Ancelotti’s orders to conserve energy ahead of the derby, or maybe that October improvement the Italian promised has come early. But most likely, it’s because the best version of Vinicius is back.

Vinicius often seems like a player who operates outside the flow of the game. He pulls Madrid to the left in a way rarely seen in the club’s recent history, and he doesn’t need the team to decide a match. If the team backs him up, great; if not, he can still take control. Sometimes, he doesn’t even need his usual wing (he set up Mbappé’s disallowed second goal with a central run, though it was clearly offside). Luis García Plaza tried to double-mark him with Mouriño and Novoa, but the strategy failed. Few plans work when Vinicius decides to go all out.

Mbappé scores a classic Mbappé goal.

The truth is that Luis García Plaza, the coach of Alavés, saved many of his starters for another battle—his own battle—which returns on Saturday in Getafe. Only three of the players who beat Sevilla started this match. On the other side was the best possible Madrid, the one that will play the derby with Carvajal. Ancelotti is treading carefully, given the early-season deficit to Barça, and he has decided to approach games methodically. For this match, all the key players were present, with only a subtle change: the center-back pairing switched sides—Rüdiger moved to the right, and Militao to the left.

However, after the goal, Madrid seemed to lose some of its intensity, and the game briefly went off track due to referee Muñiz Ruiz’s decisions regarding yellow cards. He booked Valverde and Vinicius for gestures of disagreement that are often overlooked. Valverde shrugged it off as an accident, while Vinicius took it as a personal offense, and the Bernabéu crowd reacted with outrage. As a result, almost everyone momentarily lost focus on the game itself.

Alavés, unlike their usual fierce northern wind, remained without the ball and posed no real threat. However, they began to resist better until Mbappé delivered the type of play Madrid had been waiting for since August. With a clever backheel to Bellingham, the Englishman returned the pass, and Mbappé burst into the box like a flash, suddenly changing direction—a masterstroke—leaving Diarra completely out of position before blasting the ball past Sivera. It was a classic Mbappé goal. Up until then, he’d been more of a relentless finisher, determined but not quite dazzling. This play restored his elegance and calmed the tension that had built between the crowd and the referee.

Before the half ended, there was still time for the fans to cheer a brilliant recovery from Valverde. He chased the ball back fifty meters, showing his tireless energy—a quality that’s always been highly valued at the Bernabéu.

A Bad Ending

With the good mood restored, more players joined the party. The first was Rodrygo, a player of intermittent brilliance, who scored the third goal with a blistering change of pace, leaving Protesoni behind, and firing a low shot through Sivera’s legs. By then, Madrid was playing with ease, against an opponent who seemed resigned and already focused on their next match. Luis García’s substitutions also hinted at that mentality—why waste energy on a battle that was already lost? But things didn’t go as expected.

Madrid Starts Thinking About the Derby

Madrid also began playing with the derby in mind. Ancelotti subbed off Valverde and Rodrygo, bringing on Modric and Endrick—a double substitution that received quadruple applause. The crowd has found Endrick’s minutes too short, the former Palmeiras player boasting the build of a compact car but the engine of a Ferrari. Games that start to drift off need such excitement. On his first touch, he dragged Diarra, who clung to his shirt without enough strength to bring him down, and his shot, deflected by Pica, hit the post. This came from the right wing, where Ancelotti seems to be testing him. Perhaps he’ll find more opportunities there. Later, Endrick nearly saw red for a reckless knee challenge on Mouriño, but the once-strict Muñiz softened as the match wound down.

Then came the unexpected twist: Rebbach hit the post with a brilliant curling shot, and Protesoni scored with an excellent finish when the game seemed all but over. Kike García followed with another goal, tightening the score in a surprising fashion. These two late goals gave Alavés a bit of relief and tarnished the finish for Madrid, as Vallejo made his reappearance, celebrated by the Bernabéu crowd. Once again, Madrid was incomplete. Before, they’d arrived late to matches; this time, they left too early.