Real Madrid locked horns with Espanyol at the RCDE Stadium in La Liga earlier today as they hoped to secure all three points on their travels. Los Blancos made a poor start to the contest as they conceded the opening goal in the 17th minute when Raul de Tomas found the back of the net for the home team. Carlo Ancelotti’s failed to come up with a response and were trailing 1-0 at the half-time break.
Aleix Vidal doubled the Spanish team’s advantage at the hour mark when he got his name on the scoresheet. Karim Benzema got a goal back for Los Blancos just 11 minutes later. However, Ancelotti’s men failed to come up with another goal and succumbed to a 2-1 loss on the road.
Let’s take a look at how each Real Madrid player performed during the clash against Espanyol.
GK: Thibaut Courtois – 6/10
The Belgian goalie made a couple of solid saves but will be disappointed after shipping in two goals during the game.
RB: Lucas Vazquez – 6/10
The Spaniard was a bit weak at the back but created some promising chances in the final third.
CB: Eder Militao – 6.5/10
Militao cleared his lines when needed but still ended up conceding two goals today.
CB: Nacho – 6/10
The Spanish defender made a couple of crucial interceptions at the back but was not able to stop Espanyol from scoring twice during the game.
Getty Images (https://www.gettyimages.de/)
Imago Images (https://www.imago-images.de/)
LB: David Alaba – 6.5/10
The Austrian was far from convincing at the back but engineered a few decent chances for his teammates to score.
CDM: Toni Kroos – 6/10
He hardly got into the flow of the game and got replaced at the hour mark.
RAM: Federico Valverde – 7/10
Valverde got stuck in with some solid tackles and showed some grit in the face of adversity.
CAM: Luka Modric – 5.5/10
The Croat midfielder didn’t get a foothold in the game and got replaced at the hour mark.
LAM: Eduardo Camavinga – 6/10
He was lackluster in the first half and never came back on for the second.
ST: Vininicus Jr. – 7/10
He made some promising runs with the ball but didn’t get too many sniffs at goal.
ST: Karim Benzema – 8.5/10
The Frenchman caused all sorts of problems for the Espanyol defenders and managed to get a goal back for his team. He didn’t deserve to end up on the losing team today.
Substitutes:
ST: Rodrygo – 6.5/10
He failed to offer enough support to Benzema up top.
CM: Casemiro – 6/10
The Brazilian added some bite and steel to Ancelotti’s midfield.
ST: Luka Jovic – 6/10
He picked up an assist for setting up Benzema’s goal.
RW: Eden Hazard – 6/10
The ex-Chelsea playmaker didn’t do enough to get himself a goal.
