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Real Madrid 3-1 Espanyol: Player Ratings
Real Madrid hosted Espanyol in Saturday’s early kickoff in their 25th league game of the season. Los Blancos were without Karim Benzema on the day and were dealt a fresh blow when Antonio Rudiger was deemed unfit to start ahead of the game.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men went behind early on in the game through Joselu’s wonder finish and were under pressure in the opening period. However, they did not lose control once they took over after the 15-minute mark.
Vinicius Jr and Eder Militao were on point later in the first half before Marco Asensio scored a third to give the Merengues all three points. The win over the Catalans brings Real Madrid within six points of Barcelona who play Athletic Club on Sunday.
Madrid Universal brings you the player ratings from Real Madrid’s game on Saturday.
Thibaut Courtois: 7
Not much the Belgian could do about Espanyol’s opening goal for he was brutally let down by his defence during the move. Yet, he made crucial saves in the opening period to prevent his side from going two goals down.
Dani Carvajal: 7
The right-back had an impressive first half, putting pressure on Espanyol’s makeshift left-back Leandro Cabrera. Made timely runs into the box and overlapped with Fede Valverde on the right to create threats. Completed the game with 15 defensive actions.
Eder Militao: 8.5
Was on the mark as early as the second minute to block Martin Braithwaite’s clear chance. Had his moment later in the half when he got onto the end of Aurelien Tchouameni’s pass to give the hosts the lead.
The Brazilian was solid defensively and completed close to 85% of his passes in the first half.
Nacho Fernandez: 8
Antonio Rudiger’s fitness troubles forced Nacho to start as a centre-back as opposed to the initially expected right-back position. Was confident and reassured defensively with clean distribution.
Covered for Camavinga defensively and moved to left-back for the final stretch. He was also responsible for the team’s third goal with a good run through Espanyol’s core.
Eduardo Camavinga: 6.5
Disappointing as a left-back, easily beaten by Ruben Sanchez for the opening goal. In addition to sloppy defence, he played the goalscorer Joselu onside. Was all over the place in his own area and did not contribute much to the attack either.
Moved to the midfield for the final part of the game and things improved for him.
Toni Kroos: 8
Kroos made his 400th appearance for the club on the night and became just the sixth non-Spanish player to reach that mark. Made two key passes and completed all eight attempted long balls in the first half.
The German was at the centre of every Real Madrid buildup and was instrumental in switching play between the flanks. Was a whisker away from scoring with a long-range shot in the 70th minute. Came off in the 73rd minute.
Aurelien Tchouameni: 7.5
Lost the ball that resulted in Joselu’s counter-attacking goal but made amends later in the half with a wonderful assist for Eder Militao’s goal. The French international lobbed a ball from the left side straight to the far post where the Brazilian pounced and scored.
Was safe in possession in the second half. Came off for the final 15 minutes having completed 95% of his passes and a whopping 16 successful defensive actions.
Luka Modric: 7
A relatively quiet but perfect outing for the Croatian international in the first period. Completed 100% of his attempted passes, crosses, long balls, dribbles and duels won at the halfway stage in addition to providing two key passes. Was more involved in the second period but came off for Asensio in the 71st minute.
Federico Valverde: 7
The Uruguayan did not have the best of starts to the game but came to life after Espanyol’s left-back was booked. Combined well with Carvajal to generate danger on the right wing and made central runs to create spaces. Had a slow start to the second period and never got going again.
Moved to the midfield for the final part of the game.
Rodrygo: 6.5
The 22-year-old started as the centre-forward but often switched to the left flank to help with the buildup. Came close to scoring in the first half with a well-worked shot from outside the box.
Hit the crossbar with a fabulous free kick in the second half but was relatively quiet otherwise.
Vinicius Jr: 9
The Brazilian brought out his magic boots on the night to score Real Madrid’s equaliser. Starting on the left wing, he dribbled past the defence into the box and shot the ball into the far bottom corner in a stunning solo move.
Was the team’s best player in the final third by far in the second half, menacing the opposition from the wing and looking for Rodrygo centrally. Came off in the penultimate minute.
Substitutes
Marco Asensio: 8
Did not contribute much to the game after coming on until the 92nd minute when he executed a perfect finish for Real Madrid’s third.
Dani Ceballos: 7
Involved regularly in the buildup in the few minutes that he came on
Antonio Rudiger: 6.5
Came on late and stayed solid defensively. Denied Cabrera from a corner with a good interception.
Alvaro Rodriguez: NA
Came on very late.
Roma made Real Madrid suffer for over 80 minutes on Wednesday night, and with a 3-1 lead, looked good for the win.
A flurry of set-pieces and accurate conversion, however, saved Los Blancos and helped them take all three points against the run of play.
The true depth of the club’s forward line was on full show on the night as Kylian Mbappe, Endrick and Carlos Espi all scored for Real Madrid and contributed to the 4-1 win.
What the result once again proved, however, is that the team under Jose Mourinho continues to have severe lacunae that will be punished by any elite European opposition.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Roma 3-4 Real Madrid.
A mess of an encounter
Real Madrid simply seem incapable of winning a game of football without suffering and making a massive mess out of it at this point, and the win last night did not change that perspective in any sense.
Los Blancos were outplayed by Roma for the major part of the night as the hosts played with more intent, attacking freedom and possession against Real Madrid.
Jose Mourinho’s men have been unconvincing on the road this season, and last night appeared set to go down as another defeat until a massive turn of events in the final ten minutes.
Earning back-to-back set pieces, Real Madrid managed to convert a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 win, but that does not speak to the team’s dominance in any capacity.
In the past, such a remontada would be celebrated as a mark of the team’s mentality, but those feelings do not seem to predominate this time around. Instead, the game is largely being viewed as an outing that exposed Real Madrid’s problems once again, but where they got fortunate enough to take three points.
The signs, at this point, continue to be extremely worrying and Mourinho and Co. have a lot of effort to put in if they are to overturn the team’s situation.
Substitutes outperform the starters
Jose Mourinho’s starting lineup against Roma was a representation of the mental picture the manager has of the team – and was his ‘strongest’ XI on paper.
Summer signings Marc Cucurella and Ibrahima Konate started in defence alongside Antonio Rudiger and Denzel Dumfries.
The ‘Gala’ midfield of Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde joined Jude Bellingham in midfield while Yan Diomande, Vinicius Jr. and Kylian Mbappe all started.
Despite all the big names featuring from the get-go, however, Real Madrid simply failed to create any passage of dominant play, nor did they create regular openings to score. Instead, they remained on the back foot comfortably, and matters only changed after substitutions rolled in.
Mourinho brought on Endrick and Arda Guler at the hour mark, replacing Vinicius and Dumfries, and thereby increased the attacking intensity. With Guler on the field, the team finally had a creative spark and Endrick constantly threatened the box.
Slightly later, the coach brought on Bernardo Silva for Aurelien Tchouameni, handing the team far more stability and control in midfield and restoring some level of order.
The arrivals of Carlos Espi and Alvaro Carreras in the 78th minute finally freed Real Madrid and they managed to pull off the comeback.
Every single one of the players who came on played a significant part in the comeback, be it the stability and creativity Silva and Guler offered or the attacking solutions Endrick and Espi brought. Even Carreras was an upgrade over Marc Cucurella.
How much disarray is too much disarray?
Given how Real Madrid’s midfield has looked this season, there will inevitably come a point when Jose Mourinho pulls the plug on the Valverde-Tchouameni plan.
The manager currently sees the duo as his best defensive midfield combination for the big games, but the disarray in midfield is growing with every game and the duo are unable to provide the control Real Madrid requires.
A breaking point, in that sense, will certainly arrive, but the bigger question is how much disarray is required for the manager to pull the plug on a plan that is clearly not working.
Against Roma last night, the game changed completely after Bernardo Silva came on for Tchouameni, and that alone shows how glaring the midfield problem currently is.
Not only did the Tchouameni-Valverde pairing struggle to keep possession, but they offered no attacking edge or creative spark and even looked shaky defensively.
There is an urgent need to bring the likes of Guler and Bernardo Silva into the starting dynamics for Real Madrid, and only time will tell when Mourinho will decide he has seen enough.
