Ceballos' untimely injury, racist gestures to Vinicius and chants of "Asencio, die": "I was affected"

It seemed that the racist insults towards Vinicius had ended forever, but unfortunately that is not the case. The match at Anoeta was marred by the monkey gestures of a Real fan towards the Brazilian, and by the chants of a large part of the stadium to Asencio wishing him death. Because of the latter, Sánchez Martínez was forced to stop the game in the extra time of the first half, warning the captains, the coaches and a member of the Ertzaintza: "Asencio was upset at half-time and had a yellow card. So I decided to take him off. Nobody likes to be chanted 'die' and he was upset. I preferred to take him off because his feelings could affect him in the match," explained Carletto.

It is not the first time that chants of 'Asencio, die' have been heard. It has already happened in other stadiums, such as El Sadar, but until now no referee had stopped the match for it. In fact, Munuera Montero did not even reflect it in the scoresheet of that Osasuna-Madrid match. This time, Sánchez Martínez did not let it go. Nor did he let the gestures to Vinicius. The television images showed a teenager of about 14-15 years old making the monkey gesture: "Insults are condemned. We do not like them. I think there are other ways to condemn the facts or acts that someone may have done, but this is not the right way," said captain Oyarzabal, brave in his reflection.

Madrid's victory did not prevent the bad news of Ceballos' injury. In a dispute with Kubo in extra time he stepped wrong and hurt his left knee. While waiting for tests, the first examinations by Madrid's medical team spoke of a possible muscle injury that would make him miss the Champions League tie against Atlético. A sensitive loss, now that the Utrera native was in his best moment as a Real Madrid player: "It's a shame about his injury, but we can't do anything," said Carletto.

The Italian left Anoeta happy, not only because of the result, but because of how it was achieved. His team continues to make progress and that makes him optimistic for what is to come: “We are starting to have some solidity at the back and the team is united,” said Ancelotti, who also praised Endrick: “He is a forward who has the characteristics that he is showing in the Cup. He is accurate in front of goal, quick and powerful. He has a spectacular shot. He is young, but he learns very quickly.”