23rd minute, and the night turned
Josep Martinez had the ball at his feet inside his own box and decided to take on Federico Valverde. It did not work. Valverde nicked it away, squared it, and Real Madrid had their second goal of the evening.
Inter had been the better side for long stretches at the Bernabeu. They still lost 1-2. Two individual errors did the damage: Curtis Jones on 14 minutes, then the goalkeeper nine minutes later. The clip was everywhere in Italy before half time.
Martinez actually had a strong hour after that. He kept out Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham four separate times, in first-half stoppage time and again on 49, 57 and 66 minutes. Nobody wanted to talk about any of it.
Try it for $0.99.
Gazzetta gave him the lowest mark on the pitch
Christian Chivu went out of his way to protect his keeper on Sky Italy. “But why talk about Martinez? What matters to me is the response: Pepo reacted exceptionally well, he made decisive saves. What matters to me is the reaction, the pride, the personality.”
The papers were not in the mood. Gazzetta dello Sport ran with Inter’s “gifts” to Madrid, then moved on to what it called the “Martinez disaster” and labelled him the team’s number one problem. Lowest rating of the match. Il Corriere dello Sport reached for much the same language.
Sport Mediaset went further still. “The error that led to Valverde’s 2-0 is unforgivable: a clumsy dribble attempt, bordering on the ridiculous. Two excellent saves are not enough to erase that mistake.”
He is 28, and Spain still has not called
Martinez inherited the Inter goal from Yann Sommer. He came through La Masia, grew up in the Valencian Community, and has never been capped by Spain. A European night at the Bernabeu was supposed to be the audition. It became something else entirely.
Gazzetta put it plainly: the doubts Inter supporters have carried since the summer are back out in the open. The paper also picked up on something small and telling, that not one team-mate came over to the keeper after the goal went in. A run of quiet, tidy performances is now the only way back.
Discover the latest football news on our website and mathodds app!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply