Morata vs. Carvajal, Nacho could decide Madrid derby cup clash

For better or worse, Álvaro Morata is involved at the center of two of Madrid's most iconic. Derby moments, something that will no doubt float on the striker's mind ahead of Wednesday's Spanish Super Cup semi-final between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid (stream LIVE at 1:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+) — a competition whose intensity was amplified by the fact that the two clubs meet in the Copa Del Rey on January 18.

For the better: it was Morata who deliberately blocked Atletico's Diego Godín as the Uruguayan tried to run with Sergio Ramos when Madrid took their corner in added time of the 2014 Champions League final.

Atleti leads 1-0 (via Godin) and unfortunately, in an enticing way, only 2 minutes and 10 seconds of this extra time remain. With perfect timing, Morata steps into Godin's path – a combination of brilliant thinking and dark artistry – and Ramos, suddenly freed, flies away and scores an incredibly beautiful header into space the size of a postage stamp between the right post and that of Thibaut Courtois. full dive. The Whites going wild during extra time, and the only Madrid in history Derby The Champions League final escapes Atleti.

Just a note here: Atleti is the club Morata supported as a child, the one where his professional career began and the club that enjoys the fanatical support of his grandfather. Not a way for him to be loved.

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For the worst: these are the last moments of the Spanish Super Cup final four years ago. Another Madrid Derbybut this time Morata wears the red and white of Atleti.

We're in overtime and there are exactly five minutes left. Atleti launch the ball out of their own penalty area, Dani Carvajal miscontrols the ball as it falls from the sky and when Saúl Ñíguez sends a well-measured pass into Morata's path, the striker's first deft touch brings him out of the sky, all alone, with the opportunity to beat Courtois (the Madrid goalkeeper that evening) one-on-one. With five minutes remaining. Finally.

I bet you remember that now and what happens next.

There is a Uruguayan revenge factor involved. Fede Valverde, although quick, would never catch Morata and so the midfielder launched himself, legs fully extended, and knocked the Atleti centre-forward to the ground just before he was about to send the ball past Courtois. (Or just before he gets there: you define yourself as a Morata liker or hater depending on what hypothetical conclusion you reached.)

It's an automatic red card, Valverde walks the path of shame/pride, Madrid resists penalties and – of course they do – easily wins the penalty shootout. Not only do they lift the trophy, but Valverde is named man of the match.

Morata was left with leg pain, no medal and ghosts in his famously ghost-infested head. Perhaps that accounted for extra passion when, the last time these two sides met, in September, Morata scored two peach headers in a 3-1 victory. The Whites their only defeat in a competition so far this season?

That night, in a lively, passionate and ultimately exultant Metropolitano Stadium, all three of Atleti's goals came from crosses from the left, and all three goals were headed – Antoine Griezmann's was taken in sandwich between these two goals from Morata, 31 years old.

That evening, Madrid had Lucas Vázquez at right-back and David Alaba at left centre-back, both putting in shocking performances. Positioning, their GPS completely failed them, concentration kaputt and ultra-high guilt. Two loyal, smart, “winning” players, but a terrible day at the office.

This week, neither of them are in the team: Lucas is out with a short-term injury, while Alaba faces a long and difficult recovery from a knee injury. The man tasked with avoiding Atleti's crosses down the left wing, which Morata will be hungry for, will be right-back Carvajal; the man responsible for cajoling, barging and bullying Morata out of the game in the center half will be Nacho, and these facts deserve their story.

For the longest time, Morata was the guy with all the ability, athleticism and physique, but too little of the kill or be killed mentality. In a word, he loved to be loved. He was a really warm, gregarious, funny, child-like guy. But when things got super demanding, super high pressure, or just plain nasty and dirty… he had his weaknesses. Carvajal, Nacho and Morata share a past, and those frailties are what the Madrid pair will relentlessly use to try and deter Atleti's top scorer this season.

It has only been seven months since the three men together lifted the Spanish national team's first trophy since 2012, the Nations League victory over Croatia in Rotterdam. It wasn't a completely new feeling, mind you: the trio won the U21 Euros together in 2013, while Morata and Carvajal were part of the Spain team that triumphed at the U19 Euros two years earlier . Nacho was with Morata when he made his debut for Real Madrid Castilla – the last youth stage before the first team – and also when the striker, then aged 20, scored his first first team goal ( for José Mourinho) at Levante.

These are three people from Madrid for whom one Derby as it seems of extremely increased importance – which debuted for The Whites just a few seasons apart, each of them is a product of the youth system of this club proudly called “The fabric” (“The Factory”), but three men with extremely different destinies and personalities. Tactics are not without importance, as are the roles that Vinicius Jr., Valverde (again), Toni Kroos, Antonio Rüdiger, Koke will play , Griezmann., Jan Oblak or Samuel Lino on Wednesday in this semi-final, but the confrontation between Carvajal, Nacho and Morata will be a real shock of mentalities.

The long, lean Atleti man is no less hungry for victory, but the shorter, meaner Madrilenians have the edge in ruthlessness. They are tough in spirit and tough on the ground: they compete to the limits of the laws. Morata wasn't like that, but the fact that his Atleti-mad grandfather actually stopped talking to him when he signed for Madrid suggests there is courage somewhere in his DNA.

What has happened to this vastly underrated striker – who shares a 33-goal partnership in all competitions with Griezmann – is that the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune have made him a much stronger competitor in recent times years. He admits that during an up-and-down career there were a few occasions when, psychologically in tatters and feeling undermined, he considered giving up football earlier than planned. Sports psychology has radically changed him, and today he is both the happiest and most prolific.

Regarding the offer of 42 million euros per season to play in Saudi Arabia, where this Spanish Super Cup is unfortunately taking place, he recently told the radio show El Larguero: “Everyone at the club knows that beyond what [Diego] Simeone told me to convince myself to stay, the fact is I'm dying to win a trophy for Atleti. It would be worth more than “more money”, it would be worth more than playing in other countries where I might be more “comfortable” because I would be treated differently than here in Spain.

“The most important thing that made me choose to stay at Atleti last summer was the idea of ​​lifting a trophy with them.”

There will be no Lucas or Alaba this week, but there will be the same referee, Alberola Rojas, who officiated Madrid's last match. Derbysomething that already does The Whites a little sarcastic. Real Madrid television reported that “after all the mistakes made against Madrid in the last Derbyat the Metropolitano, during the team's only defeat of the season, he led the semi-final of the Super Cup.” The tone was set.

Given the current performance levels of The Whites And The Rojiblancos, it should obviously be nothing other than a Madrid victory. And given the current form of Osasuna and Barcelona (who play the other semi-final on Thursday), whoever wins this first match will look like a likely winner of Spain's first trophy of the season.

However, the 'no friends on the pitch' battle between Carvajal, Nacho and Morata will not only add an extra thrill of interest to the clash, but could go a long way in determining which of Madrid's two biggest clubs reach the final of Sunday. Try not to miss it if you can help it.