Real Betis 2-3 Real Madrid (Mandy, Carvallo; Valverde, Emerson (OG), Ramos). Here’s our quick reaction. Next: Player reviews, post-game podcasts, post-game quotes, and more.

For the whole of last week, from the second to the third round, the speech took place Real Madrid It was all about Luka Jovi. Why didn’t he play against Real community? Could he coexist with Benzema? Zidane was short on squeezing before the match, and our podcast – Slow News Days, for sure – focused on the topic hard.

Zidane is not interested in the surrounding dialogue. He doesn’t feel pressured to change his decision, so seeing Benzema and Jovi together in the squad today may have been of his own free will and pay off, but it was surprising nonetheless.

Today’s team was a deviation from last weekend. Zidane himself has stated that what we saw against Real Madrid would not be the norm. What we saw today against Betis may or may not be repeated. As we mentioned last week, these first few games may take a beta form. Something may or may not stick. Zidane removed the wings today in favor of four midfielders – Casemiro, Kroos and Modric in one line, with Odegaard leading the diamond.

It was interesting to see Odegaard in today’s chart. Playing Isco, but it’s a little different. Odegaard’s positioning is tougher than that of the Spaniard. He holds central positions most of the time, keeping himself in between the ranks – sitting beautifully in Zone 14. Defensively, he hasn’t had many defensive missions in these past two games.

Here the diamond becomes defensively weak. Neither Isco nor Odegaard does a lot of tracking in this scheme (although they both do well), and the transition defense can get messy. Betis had chances with the numbers shifting, and with Sergio Ramos gambling in the first half, the team broke in two sequels. On William Carvalho’s green goal for Betis in the first half, Odegaard’s positioning to go away from the ball was a problem:

The team headed to the losing time 2-1 half. While the line-up on paper was looking good, there were three obvious problems:

1. The team did not have a sense of control over the ball despite having four midfielders
2. The team did not press high despite being designed to do so, thus breaking Betis’ lines
3. Real Madrid’s defense kept a fine line, and if you don’t have the ball, and you don’t win the ball at the top of the field, that’s a problem.

Zidane’s answer in the first half was to bring Isco to Odegaard: a submarine likewise with one slight difference: Isco hedging to the left while Odegaard was more central. The defense of the transition remained in dispute.

I’ll quickly summarize some other key points before the post-match pushers kick in:

• Real Betis were no better than Real Madrid in defense, and this became a back and forth match, as the two teams had space for transition, with neither team dominating the midfield.
• Real Madrid’s goal came in the 48th minute, with Fedi Valverde scoring a quick diagonal ball Danny Carvajal It was followed by a ball in the penalty area by Real Madrid’s right back which Emerson deflected into the goal.
• Emerson’s night went bad as the Brazilian defended Jovi’s break-up, and the Brazilian fouled the Real Madrid striker and received a red card. Grr.
• Real Madrid’s winning goal came, of course, with Sergio Ramos Panenka’s penalty kick.
• On Jovi, he had a few touches, as expected, but had subtle and important sequences. In the two open-play goals, his presence in the penalty area caught the attention of Real Betis defenders, creating space for Benzema and Federico Valverde respectively. His career that led to the Emerson red card was clearly a big moment for the team.
• Zidan Jovi changed to Borja Mayoral. It was interesting that he kept his streak steady the entire way, instead of bringing Vinicius or Rodrigo to take advantage of Betis’ high streak.
• Strong performance from Mindy and Benzema. Ramos made an impressive second game after a shaky first run. Modric, who had suffered from a Kroos injury in the first half, looked slow.

We’re going to break this down in more detail on the After-Game Podcast tonight.