Msometimes you wonder if Real Madrid isn’t overdoing it with the short passes with their own goalkeeper, with the controlled build-up in their own penalty area. And then you rub your eyes in amazement. Like the 1-1 draw against Manchester City in the Champions League semifinals on Tuesday. The play began before Madrid were 1-0 at goalkeeper Courtois and ended at the other end with a goal from Vinícius. A wonderful interaction between old and young, between experience and youthful cheek, between Luka Modric and Eduardo Camavinga.
Right-back Carvajal had thrown in Rüdiger, who played to Courtois. The Belgian in Real’s goal briefly continued to play on Alaba on the left, and then suddenly everything happened at lightning speed. Alaba matched Camavinga, who played three opponents in a one-two with Modric and then had a clear path. The Frenchman had a close footing with the ball, Bernardo Silva couldn’t keep up. A cross pass to Vinícius in front of the opposing penalty area, who took off and scored.
Not all of his scenes resulted in a goal, but Camavinga had plenty that night. Before the game, the only 20-year-old Frenchman was considered one of the sore points at Real Madrid, as inexperienced and a bit careless, but he still had to replace the injured left-back Mendy. With a somewhat bouncing running style, he always seems a little impetuous, the ponytail at the back of his head flies wildly through the area, and with his muscles of a sprinter he has become synonymous with the term “Energía” so often used by Ancelotti.
“He learns very quickly”
Camavinga kept his side tight. Bernardo Silva bit his teeth on him, the Frenchman repeatedly blocked his attempts to cross. During a longer treatment break for Gündogan (after a violent collision with Rüdiger) in the middle of the first half, Ancelotti also encouraged his youngest player on the field to behave more offensively when in possession of the ball. The speech became a kind of “time-out”, but became one of the key moments of the game.
After that, Real played less defensively and caused City significantly more problems in building up the game. “Camavinga learns very quickly,” Ancelotti said afterwards in front of journalists. However, he withheld the fact that the Frenchman was also involved in the goal. After winning the ball in the left-back position, he played a long ball diagonally down the middle, which Rodrygo could barely control and lost to Rodri. De Bruyne then equalized.
In Spain, Camavinga’s style is often described as “desparpajo”, a word that means youthful impudence, skill, but also chaos and disorder. It describes his effect on the field well: when he came on as a substitute last season – often for Toni Kroos – he was like a storm that not only upset the opponent’s ranks but also his own a little.
Fled from the war
In his second year at Real Madrid, he plays more often in the starting XI and is tactically more disciplined, without Ancelotti squeezing him into a pattern. In any case, the Frenchman has plenty of experience for his age. At the age of 16 he got his first professional contract in Rennes, two months before his 18th birthday he played in the French national team for the first time.
Off the pitch, Camavinga captivates everyone with a cheerful laugh that may be a little at odds with his fate. He was born in a refugee camp in Angola in 2002. His parents had fled the war in Congo. Later they came to France. His family history makes him stronger, Camavinga said when he presented himself to the press in Madrid almost two years ago. When he plays football, he always plays for his family.