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Real Madrid extended their consecutive La Liga winning streak to five against Granada with a 2-0 win on Wednesday at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium. Real Madrid were coming off a 3-1 victory over Eibar and were still rolling at home against the seventh best team in the division.
Coach Zinedine Zidane made some minor line-up adjustments with Luka Modric outside of the game as a precaution. Instead, the team lined up with Federico Valverde in midfield for Modric alongside Casemiro and Toni Kroos. Zidane made no changes to the attacking trio as Karim Benzema, Lucas Vázquez and Rodygo were in charge of generating Real Madrid’s offense.
Visiting Granada was about to break through in the opening minutes of the game after a bad pass from Raphaël Varane was taken advantage of by Antonio Puertas for a scoring opportunity.
After the relaxed moment of concentration, Real Madrid continued to settle at their own pace. Responding immediately by retaining possession and entering dangerous spaces. Kroos nearly broke through with a shot from distance in the 15th minute, but his attempt narrowly missed.
With some exciting moments but the shot lacking, Madrid’s momentum faltered a bit before halftime when Rodygo was stopped in a rush to the area with an injury. The interruption of the game caused the Brazilian to be carried off the court on a stretcher in an unfortunate turn of events, as he has been in top form with Real Madrid lately.
Marco Asensio replaced Rodrygo and Madrid to play the half still in search of the breaking goal after holding most of the possession against Granada 69% to 31% and outscoring the opposition 9 to 4.
Second half preview
Asensio would remain active in the band as Benzema kept quiet with Granada focused on the French striker. Asensio hit the post in the 55th minute before finally helping advance Real Madrid’s opening goal minutes later.
Asensio received a ball from left-back Ferland Mendy and loaded it close to the baseline and launched a cross into the box where Casemiro jumped into space to head the cross into the net for the opening in the 57th minute.
Whether due to a lack of cohesion in the line-up adjustments or generalized fatigue, Madrid seemed happy to play their advantage against a Granada who saw little time with the ball and did not generate glances in the goal.
It looked like Madrid would be on their way to another victory albeit without a Benzema goal, but the French striker would not deny it when he scored in injury time for Real Madrid.
Benzema cut down the right wing after receiving the ball from Casemiro and shot from the top of the area to finish off a goal with his left foot continuing his scoring streak with 4 goals in the last 3 Real Madrid games.
Notable performances
Asensio, Real Madrid: He left the Real Madrid bench and immediately tried to generate offense from the possession that the team retained. He almost had a brilliant goal before assisting the club’s first goal. Score: 9
Casemiro, Real Madrid: The midfielder’s presence was missed and his return has been noted in the last two games. He regulated the center of the field against Granada, scored the first goal and advanced Benzema on the second Real Madrid goal. Rating: 8
Karim Benzema, Real Madrid: The French striker has had a remarkable run in recent weeks for the club. He scored closely and kept quiet in the first half, along with parts in the second half before providing the final dagger with an injury time goal. Rating: 7.5
Looking to the future
Winning has become a habit of Real Madrid again, as their latest win extends their streak to five. It continues at the same level as Atlético de Madrid with 32 points and sits in second place with a game in hand. Los Blancos will have a chance to climb the table even higher as they prepare to face 16th-ranked Elche next Wednesday.
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