Nine games and nine wins, Zidane’s men march with one hand on the La Liga trophy. Nine wins in a row, let that sink in. The game itself was a matter of ups and downs. Zidane threw a five-man midfield and Madrid played a champagne-filled first half. The teal men took an early two-goal lead through Ferland Mendy and Karim Benzema. What was expected to be a 2North Dakota Half of the cruise control turned into a Granada attack. Some 2North Dakota half touch up of Diego Martínez and some fatigue from Madrid, meant that the game involved Zidane’s favorite quote after the game, “suffering”. The team weathered the storm, largely due to Sergio Ramos’ goal line clearing, and now has a chance to crown itself champions on Thursday with a victory over Villarreal at the Alfredo Di Stefano stadium.
Thibaut Courtois–7: Even though Granda had 13 shots in this game, they only had 4 on target and two that forced Courtois to save. On the only goal, Courtois was crazy about Darwin Machis’ shot, something that has happened several times before and may be worth evaluating his position / angle in 1v1 opportunities.
Dani Carvajal—5.5: A quiet game by Carvajal, who only appeared when called for a foul. In the 5-man midfield, he provided width on the right flank but contributed little to the attack.
Raphael Varane – 6.5: It seemed like a game where Varane was everywhere on the defensive. He cleaned up well as a sweeper when Sergio Ramos pushed and won most of his aerial duels. He may have had a chance to face Darwin Machis on Getafe’s only goal, but he decided not to risk it.
Sergio Ramos – 8.5: Another brilliant display from the captain: how many times have we said that post-lock? He grabbed in the final minutes of the game with a goal line clearance to preserve all three points for Madrid.
Mendy – 8.5: The Frenchman seems to be growing in confidence and comfort at Real Madrid. He scored a brilliant individual goal to give Madrid the first game. He used his entire set of physical tools to slow down and then quickly switch to another gear and outpace the Granada defense before hitting the ball against the ceiling of the net.
Casemiro – 5.5: The Brazilian’s only costly mistake in the lead-up to Granada’s goal will spoil his performance, but was otherwise solid on defense and came with a team of 3 tackles completed.
Luka Modric – 8.5: Who can believe that Luka will be 35 in just a couple of months? The midfielder was at his most majestic moment, particularly in the first half where he played a visionary pass to Benzema from the right wing. The game ended with a team of 3 key passes.
Toni Kroos—7.5: Tired near the end of the match as much of the Madrid team, but was at his usual high standards for much of the match. Team with 90 touches and 75 passes with an accuracy of 97%!
Fede Valverde – 6.5: The Uruguayan floated from central positions to the right wing. He did not lose any of his 30 passes, but got tired in the 2North Dakota half when he was assigned the task of changing his role further to a dual extreme. Zidane correctly made the change around the hour mark.
Isco – 6.5: He played in the middle left space as an inside # 10 for the entire first half and thrived. He connected well with Kroos, Modric, Benzema, and Mendy. In the second half, Granada increased the pressure and Isco was forced to act as a two-way winger to mitigate his influence and increase his fitness levels.
Karim Benzema – 7.5: He scored a beautiful goal after Granada gave the Frenchman too much time and space in the area.
Substitutions:
Rodrygo goes – 6: He played on his preferred left wing and produced 1 key pass and 2 full bounces within his 30 minutes on the field, but he was probably put up for his work rate and ball composure more than anything else.
Marco Asensio – 5.5: He produced a charming pirouette to evade a Granada defender, but that was the highlight of his match with little else to notice.
