Dogged Di María gets his point across in Poland

Real Madrid completed their pre-season programme with a match sandwiched between Supercup engagements – in less than three days’ time, they have the first of the two Spanish Supercup meetings with Atlético, the first at the Bernabéu. Ancelotti will be reassured by some of the aspects of tonight’s friendly with Fiorentina – principally with the performance of Ángel Di María who looked 100 per cent committed to the cause. The Argentine all-rounder had signalled that he was ready to move on this summer (PSG and Manchester United still have faith they will land him before the window closes) but somehow Ancelotti has weaved his magic on the player, reactivating him emotionally; Di María showed his best side in Warsaw this evening - dynamic, devoted, hyperactive and aggressive, he proved a handful for Fiorentina all the way through his 90-minute run-out, his first minutes of the pre-season.

For Ancelotti, this was a standard pre-season encounter – the result, irrelevant for either side as they continue to file away all of the last rough edges before the league kicks off next weekend. However there were positives to take from the match. The first, the fervent support which Real Madrid enjoys in Poland; everywhere you looked in the Nacional stadium , there were white shirts. Even a giant banner was unfurled to pay tribute to the late Alfredo Di Stéfano ahead of kick-off. That was an extra source of encouragement for Madrid who went into the match looking assured and intent on victory – even in a friendly. They also had UEFA’s Best Player of the past season Cristiano and Di María. The two fabricated the opening goal just three minutes after match official Daniel Stefanski had signalled the game to get underway. The Italians were caught out from a corner set-piece and Madrid launched a searing counter-attack in which they switched from defence to attack in just 12 seconds. Cristiano turned into Di Stéfano, charging up-field like an enraged buffalo on the left, Di María matched him for pace on the right and swung in an inviting ball left the Portuguese ace the sole inconvenience of stabbing it in at the back post. The goal, scored with his weaker foot, had the whole of Poland on its feet.

But Vincenzo Montella hadn’t brought his players to Warsaw for a picnic. Fiorentina were well-organized at the back, flexible on both flanks, composed when distributing the ball around the midfield and up front, they had the giant German who has “sangre granadina” (blood from Granada) pumping through his veins – Mario Gómez. The Italians continued to persist and put Keylor Navas through a thorough examination on his Madrid debut. The Costa Rican keeper had already been called on before Cristiano’s opener and continued with a series of saves in the second half, notably a wonderful, confident save to deny Vargas. But he couldn’t do much to halt a colossal Super Mario diving header (following a Xabi Alonso gaffe which gifted Alquilani a free delivery from the right). Nor was he at fault for Fiorentina’s second of the night – scored by Marcos Alonso, the grandson of the legendary Marquitos and the son of the former Atleti and Barça wing wizard with whom he shares his name. He tormented the bland Sami Khedira and the below par Arbeloa to fire a shot that few keepers would have got to.

The final minutes were played out without Cristiano, with Benzema as captain and three C team players: Lucas, Medrán and Burgui on the pitch. The result was inconsequential: from tonight we can deduce that Kroos has scientific grade set square in his boots while Di María is urging Ancelotti to include him in the line-up for the Supercup meetings with Atlético. James still didn’t look comfortable – the experiment to use him as a false 9 didn’t come off but it’s clear that this Madrid side has many variants open to them and resources to call on; even if in the end, the goals came from the usual suspect, Cristiano - the best.

from Últimas noticias | Diario AS http://ift.tt/1pAIq3e

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