Real Madrid faced off against Deportivo Alaves at the Mendizorroza Stadium earlier tonight as they looked to secure all three points on the road. Los Blancos dominated the game in the first half but were lackluster in the final third as they went into the half-time break with a goalless scoreline.
Karim Benzema gave the Madrid giants a dream start to the second half as he found the back of the net in the 48th minute which broke the deadlock. Nacho doubled his team’s advantage in the 56th minute before Benzema scored again just six minutes later to put daylight between the two teams. Alaves got a consolation goal courtesy of Joselu’s 65th-minute penalty but Vinicius Jr. came off the bench to have the final say as he scored another goal for Los Blancos in injury-time. The contest ended with Carlo Ancelotti’s men securing a dominant 4-1 victory away from home.
Let’s take a look at how each Real Madrid player performed during the match against Alaves.
GK: Thibaut Courtois – 6/10
The Belgian keeper made a few solid stops but won’t be happy after conceding a second-half penalty which extinguished his hopes for a clean sheet.
RB: Lucas Vazquez – 7/10
The Spaniard made a couple of important interceptions and even orchestrated some decent chances in the final third.
CB: Eder Militao – 6/10
Militao did enough work defensively to restrict the opposition to just one goal during the 90 minutes.
CB: Nacho – 8/10
The Spanish centre-back won the ball back multiple times for his team. He has also got a second-half goal to show for his efforts.
LB: David Alaba – 7/10
It was a promising league debut for the Austrian talent. He was solid at the back and made a couple of key opportunities throughout the game.
CM: Federico Valverde – 7/10
Valverde produced a battling display in midfield and retained possession really well for his side.
CM: Casemiro – 8/10
The Brazilian sensation anchored the midfield with conviction and protected his teammates at the back quite well. He was also excellent on the ball and engineered some decent chances for others around him.
CM: Luka Modric – 8/10
Modric completely ran the show at the centre of the park and ended the match with a well-deserved assist to his name.
RW: Gareth Bale – 6.5/10
The Welsh talent was guilty of squandering a few decent chances to score. He was also a bit wasteful with his passing.
ST: Karim Benzema – 9/10
Benzema scored two important goals in the second half which put his team in a commanding position to snatch maximum points from this league game. He deserves to be named the man of the match.
LW: Eden Hazard – 7.5/10
Hazard looked like a dangerous winger once again tonight as he caused all kinds of problems for the opposition defenders.
Substitutes:
LW: Vincius Jr. – 7/10
He did well to net an injury-time goal.
RW: Rodrygo – 6/10
Rodrygo added some energy to Ancelotti’s frontline.
CM: Isco – N/A
The Spaniard hardly had any time to influence the game.
CM: Marco Asensio – N/A
Asensio did not get enough minutes to warrant a rating.
ST: Luka Jovic – N/A
He came off the bench to run the clock down.
