Carlos Espí gives Real Madrid hope in the face of Barcelona’s La Liga storm | Sid Lowe

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

José Mourinho called and Carlos Espí came to his side. It was late, it was noisy and it was almost over – the match and maybe even something more – when Real Madrid’s coach took the forward who is also his flatmate to one side on Tuesday night. Standing close, Mourinho had a message to deliver; he also had a piece of paper. 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. Put ball in goal, perhaps. Or: Help. So he did.

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. But, thinking it was as done as it really should have been, their minds perhaps on Sunday’s derby at Atlético too, they had stopped again, drifting. 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.

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