The Frenchman with his bandaged fist, more like Thanos and his infinity gauntlet produced a masterclass performance and was the major reason they left Barcelona with the three points.
Real Madrid returned to La Liga action and sought to close the gap from first position back to 10 points after league leaders Barcelona had won earlier in the day. With several key players returning from injury, Solari had no much problem picking the players to play for him and as we all know typical Solari, he picked the players based on form and not names, a tactic that has been very helpful.
Thubiat Courtois continued between the sticks. Captain Sergio Ramos was partnered by Raphael Varane in central defence. Dani Carvajal returned at right back and Sergio Reguilon at left back.
The midfield saw the return of Toni Kroos the cyborg from injury, partnered by Casemiro and Luka Modric, the same trio that won the team their last three consecutive Uefa Champions League title.
Lucas Vasquez continued at right flank, Vinicius continued at left flank and Benzema once again, forwarded the attack.
There wasn't much changes to the line up from the last match against Girona, especially the attack which saw the same set of faces we have been seeing for the past matches despite Gareth Bale and Mariano Diaz returning from injury. They shouldn't be rushed back isn't? I guess so.
The match started pretty much as expected, the absence of Espanyol's starting defenders through injury meant the team had to call up a B team defender and their inexperience at the back was exposed in the 4th minute of the match. Luka Modric ran all the way from approximately 40 metres away from Espanyol's post and into the 18 yard box unmarked and went to the extent of shooting at the keeper, a weak shot that enabled Benzema to pounce on the rebound and score to take Real Madrid ahead.
Sergio Ramos made it two with a header that was technically placed towards the far end of the post and beyond the reach of the keeper after a short corner was dropped to Modric and the Croatian flew in a curved cross.
Baptistao gave the Catalyuna team a life line in the 25th minute. A deflected shot fell to his path in the 18 yard box unmarked and he struck a shot above the keeper to reduce the deficit to 1.
However, Benzema was at the heart of everything good in attack for Real Madrid. The Frenchman was a constant nuisance and threat to the back line of the Espanyol team, he dribbled his way most times and kept sending in through balls that was mostly wasted. A no. 9 that is much of a 10. His efforts was rewarded with another goal in the 46 minute. A well calculated run from the Frenchman saw him lay a pass for the onrushing Vinicius Junior, the Brazilian was however closely marked and the ball ended up returning to Benzema and the Frenchman coolly dispatched a curved down strike into the Right hand corner of the net to take his team 2 goals up.
The second half saw a substitution from Real Madrid as Sergio Ramos appeared to have picked up a knock after a bad challenge with Espanyol's Borja Iglesias and Nacho came on for the Captain. Karim Benzema continued to carve his way through the Espanyol defence and in the 67th minute, Gareth Bale who was brought on for Vinicius Junior scored with a well placed shot in the 18yard box that was more like a penalty after a Maradona-esque turn. That move was started by Benzema and finished by the Welsh Wizard and the match looked all but lost for the Espanyol team from that moment.
The Catalyuna team looked to avoid a total drubbing and crawled back into their shell hoping to heat on the counter. They was no real threat from them until the 72nd minute when Raphael Varane was red carded for an unintentional foul on the speedy Rosales through on goal, a decision that appeared too harsh from the referee as it looked like there was no contact from the French defender.
Espanyol would later score their second of the night after Marcelo kept Roberto Rosales onside and a cross was brought down with the chest in front of the keeper and struck beyond the keeper's reach and into the roof of the net, similar to their first goal.
Conclusion
This was without doubt, one of Real Madrid's best performance of the season and the most consistent they have remained for majority of a match.
Solari's decision to pick players based on form and not popularity is yielding positive results for the team. It is very apparent that most players in the team that were sluggish in the early matches of the season are all looking worthy of a call up recently.
The only set back and worrisome aspect in the team is the absence of starters heading into the next game. Captain Sergio Ramos appears to have picked up a knock, and we will be hoping it doesn't keep him away from the next match against Alaves. Raphael Varane and Dani Carvajal would be missing through suspension. However, Solari has shown he can be able to do some magic with the line up and produce a magical formation with the team at his disposal as the one against Real Betis. So, we would be looking forward to what he has in store for us come weekend
With key players returning from injury and others picking form, every Real Madrid fan has got a reason to smile and anticipate a wonderful end to the season.
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