Madridistas, that one stings.
Any trip to the Estadio El Sadar is guaranteed to be a battle, but Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Osasuna feels like a particularly bitter pill to swallow. Not only does Raul García’s stoppage-time winner leave our eight-game winning run in tatters, but it also ends a historic 24-game unbeaten streak against Los Rojillos that dated all the way back to January 2011.
Here is how a frustrating night in Pamplona unfolded for Los Blancos.
All Possession, No Punch
The opening stages followed a familiar script. Carlo’s men dominated the ball, boasting a massive 72% possession early on. However, the game exploded into chaos around the 15-minute mark. A series of fiery exchanges—with Vinícius Junior right in the thick of it—woke up the notoriously loud home crowd, and from that point on, Osasuna had the bit between their teeth.
Before we even went behind, the warning signs were flashing red:
- Ante Budimir narrowly missed with a curled effort.
- Thibaut Courtois had to pull off an absolutely world-class, one-handed save to bail out a confused backline.
- Budimir rattled the post with a header from just inside the box.
Despite flashes of individual brilliance—Vini’s trickery, Kylian Mbappé’s long-range daisy-cutter, and a trademark rocket from David Alaba—we couldn’t find the breakthrough. The mounting pressure finally broke us when Courtois was adjudged to have brought down Budimir in the box. The Croatian stepped up and comfortably converted the penalty, sending us into the tunnel 1-0 down.
The Spark from the Bench
The first 10 minutes of the second half felt like a heavyweight bout with both teams trading blows but landing nothing significant. Arda Güler gave Osasuna a scare with a fierce right-footed strike that left Sergio Herrera floundering, but we still lacked that cutting edge.
It took a double substitution to finally wake us up. The introduction of Trent Alexander-Arnold completely changed the dynamic of the game. Trent immediately injected the pace, width, and purpose that had been sorely missing on the right flank.
The momentum began to shift:
- The Warning: Mbappé smashed a beautiful effort into the top corner, only to have it frustratingly ruled out for offside.
- The Breakthrough: Moments later, a stunning driving run and perfectly weighted cross from Federico Valverde found Vinícius, who couldn’t miss from six yards out. 1-1.
- The Near Miss: We almost grabbed a quickfire second, with only a desperate last-ditch block from Javi Galán denying Mbappé.
A Bitter End and the Title Race
Just when it looked like we were going to snatch a hard-fought away win—or at least walk away with a gritty point—disaster struck. In the dying moments of the match, Raul García produced an astonishing individual finish to win the game for Osasuna.
The Big Takeaway: Dropping points away from home against a tough, in-form Osasuna side (who are now six games unbeaten) isn’t the end of the world, but the timing is brutal.
This defeat leaves the door wide open in the LaLiga title race. It hands Barcelona a golden opportunity to usurp us at the top of the table if they can take care of business against Levante on Sunday. We need to dust ourselves off, analyze the defensive lapses, and bounce back immediately. We are Real Madrid; we don’t dwell on setbacks, we respond to them.
