Real Madrid began their quest for a third consecutive Champions League, by winning their opening group game 3-0 against APOEL Nicosia. Below the Real Madrid players are rated from their win Vs APOEL Nicosia.
Keylor Navas, 6.5 – The keeper had very little to do during the game but he made a great save in the 9th minute to keep the game at 0-0. Apart from that, he had to do absolutely nothing.
Daniel Carvajal, 7 – A good game from the Spanish full-back as he got forward an awful lot. Carvajal also made a couple of nice runs in behind the defence on the right side in the first half. He continued this in the second half and in the 46th minute put in a sublime cross to pick out Cristiano Ronaldo whose shot hit the underside of the bar and bounced out. He was booked in the 51st minute.
Sergio Ramos, 7 – Did some mopping up in the first half when needed. He had one nervy moment in defence when he was cocky on the ball but got himself out of trouble. Made it 3-0 with an overhead kick which was bizarre as a centre half who had to run into the 18-yard box in open play.
Nacho, 6 – The defender had a quiet night. He did not have an awful lot to do defensively as Ramos was quick to mop up any danger.
Marcelo, 7 – The Brazilian full-back got forward well throughout the game. He put in a number of crosses which were well cut out by the defence.
Luka Modric, 7 – He always seemed to want the ball in the centre of the park and never lost the ball throughout the game. He also showed some great footwork in the first half which led to his shot being blocked. He made a great low driven cross which Ronaldo tapped into the net but the Portuguese was offside.
Casemiro, 6 – Did not have an awful lot to do in terms of defending. He did make a glorious chipped ball over the top of the defence which Ronaldo nearly got on the end of in the first half.
Mateo Kovacic, N/A – Did not rate as only played twenty minutes of the game before his game was cut short due to injury.
Isco, 7 – The Spanish international continued his great start to the season. He showed good footwork in the first half and passed it off to Gareth Bale who then set up Ronaldo for the first goal of the night. His night came to an end when he went off in the 71st minute.
Gareth Bale, 8 – The Welshman had a terrific game, he caused a constant threat to the Nicosia defence. He made a great driven cross to pick out Ronaldo to score the first goal. He then put a header over from a corner. Bale then before half time, brought down a ball and drove in a cross for Ronaldo for a tap in but Ronaldo somehow missed. He deserved a goal to round off a terrific night and join Ronaldo on a rating of 9. Went off in the 81st minute.
Cristiano Ronaldo, 9 – Stole the show again for Madrid. He opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a side-footed finish into the bottom left corner. He then missed a sitter before half time from another Bale cross. After half time, he hit the underside of the post after latching onto Carvajal’s cross. Then in the 51st minute, Real Madrid won a penalty and Ronaldo calmly tucked it into the bottom left corner for his brace.
On another night it could have been a hat-trick had he done better with other chances and he would have gotten a 10. Thought it seemed that he had scored a hat trick with six minutes to go but he was offside after tapping in from Modric’s great low cross.
Substitutes:
Toni Kross, 6 – Came on for Kovacic in the 24th minute. He picked out Bale from a corner just ten minutes after coming on but Bale nodded over. He then made a nice run and had his shot blocked.
Dani Ceballos, N/A – Hard to rate came on in the 71st minute but did not really do much so hard to critic with such little time on the pitch.
Borja Mayoral, N/A
