With Barcelona racking up seven-goal thrillers, Real Madrid could not afford a collapse. Enter the forward quietly turning into José Mourinho’s ultimate secret weapon.
J osé Mourinho called and Carlos Espí came to his side. Small, folded, half-hidden in his hand, it was not big enough for much more than a single word, shown almost surreptitiously, the request written on it, like what he had whispered in Espí’s ear, left to your imagination.
Madrid needed him to, which they should not have. Two goals up inside half an hour at Elche on Tuesday night, they could have added a third or a fourth, maybe even a fifth, before half-time. Vinícius Júnior had gone, Arda Guler had gone, Aurélien Tchouaméni might as well have done, barely able to move any more, and now, somehow, the game was going.
Goals from Abiel Osorio in the 71st minute and Fer Niño in the 83rd had made it 2-2.
With inevitability, the next note says something about Espí and just wide, the one after says 4’ and the one after that just ESPÍ. On as a substitute, rested to begin with, Jude Bellingham’s run and pass released Kylian Mbappé who laid off for Espí to score, staff and subs, dressed in pink, racing down the touchline.
Born in Tavernes, a little way up the east coast from Elche, his family waiting for him at the side of the pitch after the match on Tuesday night, no one had heard of Espí this time last year.
La Liga did the worst first and left the best for last.