We were served with the best delicacy of players by Zinedine Zidane but we ended up with a running stomach at the end of the meal.
If jaws dropped last weekend with Gareth Bale’s inclusion in the squad line up against Celta, it definitely touched the ground yesterday as seemingly outcast James Rodriguez joined the Welshman in the line up against Real Valladolid.
Zinedine Zidane rolled out a 4-4-1 formation which morphed into a 4-2-3-1 with the ball rolling. Thubiat Courtois was tasked with securing the goalpost. Sergio Ramos partnered Raphael Varane in Central Defence while Marcelo and Dani Carvajal filled their left back and right back spots respectively.
Toni Kroos, Casemiro, Isco Alarcon and Gareth Bale filled the midfield while Benzema solely forwarded the attack.
There isn’t much that happened in this encounter other than Real Madrid dominated for much of the game but lacked the final pass or punch that would break the deadlock. Valladolid on their own part were very lucky to have ended the match with a point but ordinarily, they deserve to share the spoils as Real Madrid deserved to be punished for being wasteful.
Several times both James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale came close to opening the scoring but either the ball missed the post by few inches or it was blocked from going in. Luka Jovic who was introduced in the second half was unlucky to have not scored his first goal for the club as his header hit the crossbar but Benzema managed to conjure his magic in the 82nd minute. With the Frenchman’s back to goal, he managed to expertly turn and place a nice finish beyond the keeper’s reach.
With 8 official minutes left to play for, it looked as though Real Madrid would be ending the match with all three points but a minute of miscalculation from Toni Kroos, Carvajal’s ignorance of his defensive duties and Courtois inexperience in the 18 yard box saw Valladolid score an equalizer. After that equalizer, Real Madrid sought a late winner but it was never to come and they ended up losing two crucial points on their own turf.
Conclusion
This draw left so many questions and answers to some of those questions but the major point is, Real Madrid are still lacking the thrust they once had with Portuguese attacker Cristiano Ronaldo leading their attack. The team despite still blessed with talented attackers still cannot find a way to get the ball past a team that seeks to defend at all cost. Right now there is a huge call and wish for the return of Eden Hazard from injury as it is apparent the Belgian’s skills is hugely needed to break such defensive block like that of Valladolid yesterday.
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