The ad board in Elche that seemed to cheer on a Madrid player | OneFootball

Real Madrid suffered, but achieved their objective in Elche. Carlos Espí restored calm after the scare in the second half, and the merengues force FC Barcelona to get a result, otherwise they will be level again at the top of the table. The match, however, had a story beyond the result or what happened purely on the pitch.

Off the field, the spotlight was on Vinicius, Mbappé and Konaté for their decision not to wear — or to only half-wear — the shirt bearing a message of solidarity with the people of Ceuta. But there was also a curious anecdote in the stands at the Martínez Valero.

Raúlasencio, the bakery advertised at the Martínez Valero

During the ninety minutes the match lasted, one of the stadium boards displayed a rather unusual advertisement: "raúlasencio," it read. It belongs to an Alicante pastry shop with a century-old tradition that bought a static ad with the Valencian side for that meeting with Real Madrid, but the name was especially amusing because it is the same as Raúl Asencio, the Whites’ centre-back — although perhaps not for much longer.

At times, the advertisement seemed more like a message of support for the Canary Island defender. That said, if that was the intention, the timing was not the best, since Asencio is practically sidelined from the team. The academy graduate was convicted after testing positive in a breathalyzer test while driving and only returned to a matchday squad against Rayo Vallecano, four days ago.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.