Endrick shows his face and Güler fades away at Anoeta

Madrid's winning goal at Anoeta showed much of what Carlo Ancelotti has been chasing since day one, ever since the scolding in Mallorca. After 20 minutes, Vinicius, captain of his team for the first time, appeared in his own area to steal the ball, a very unusual scene this season, whose development has been conditioned at many times in the white team by the insufficient involvement of the attackers in defence. In recent weeks, especially after the match with City, the Italian coach has appreciated a greater display of his stars when it comes to holding the fort. It also happened in San Sebastian in the kitchen of Endrick's goal, the man of the Cup so far for Madrid, who scored four goals in almost his only window in his debut season.

“He is showing his qualities. He is very accurate, fast and powerful. He still needs to improve with the ball, but he will learn,” said Carletto. “I am a worker and I have to work. When I have the opportunity to play, I have to do something,” added the 18-year-old.

The Cup, despite being the semi-finals, continued to be a secondary route for Madrid within a schedule that Ancelotti defined in the build-up as “absurd”. Lunin rested Courtois and made six saves (“he will play in the return leg, but it is too early to open the debate about a final,” the Italian clarified), Mbappé pulled a tooth and did not travel, Valverde continued with a necessary technical stop, Asencio tried himself again at right-back, Rodrygo started on the bench, and the contenders Arda Güler and Endrick had the chance to claim their due.

The second was more than enough, and with the first, the line-up had to be used in many stretches to find him. The Brazilian is one of those finishers who shoot and then ask questions. In the passage of 0-1, he didn't need to ask. Vinicius stole it, Bellingham sent a great pass that crossed the defensive area of ​​the Real and Endrick finished with the outside of his left foot. After the break, he had the second with a shot against the crossbar. "I'm a little angry with that shot because it could have been much better. But I'm going to improve by missing and looking at my mistakes to see what I can do," said the striker.

Endrick had already pulled Madrid out of the mud on Celta's thorny Copa del Rey night in the round of 16 , four days after Barcelona's thrashing in the Super Cup. A whiplash from him in extra time prevented the initial whistles from turning into a brawl. In the quarter-finals, at Leganés, he also scored another goal. The Cup is his territory; in fact, his only territory. In the League, in 2025, he has not even played 10 minutes in three periods. At Anoeta, Madrid retreated and found him successfully on the counterattack before seeing Ceballos leave with pain in the back of his left thigh. He will undergo tests on Thursday.

Before the match, Ancelotti had called for patience with young players and with young players. He referred, in particular, to Güler, of whom he said that perhaps those around him do not agree with that idea, although the message, indirectly, inevitably reached Endrick. In San Sebastian, the Brazilian did show his face while the Turk barely appeared. “He has worked well in possession and defensive work,” Carletto consoled him.

Before the break, the referee activated the protocol due to chants of “Asencio, die” and stopped the match for a few minutes until the loudspeakers and video scoreboards called for the attacks to stop. “I took him off at half-time because he was affected and had a yellow card,” said Ancelotti, who left satisfied with “the solidity and solidarity” of his team. “We defended as the manager asked us to,” warned Vinicius.