Vinicius, Ramos, Reguilon all shine as Solari and his men pick up their first win of the year.

Before the start of the match, majority of the analysis were pointing to how Solari will approach this game, so many running mouths and itchy thumbs putting out the poor run of form, the appalling injury list, the opponent’s story, to name but just a few. This same fixture saw Real Madrid eliminated from this same competition in this stage last season, Solari’s men were expected to pull off something that appears more like a revenge. Out of curiosity, many wondered what was on Solari’s mind heading into the game, how would he approach this game in terms of selecting the players available after losing major key players to the treatment table and some apparently needed rest for the upcoming league match in the weekend against a tough and interesting team in Real Betis.

Everyone was also anxious to see if Brahaim Diaz, a new signing from Manchester city who was included in the match day squad would make the starting eleven to fill in the gap left by injured and tired players.

Solari started with three times Champions League winner, Keylor Navas between the sticks. News reaching us few hours before the match was that first choice Goal Keeper Thubiat Courtois has been diagnosed with a thigh injury and is ruled out for 10 days, although there were doubts he would be starting a cup match.

Nacho came back into the starting eleven after spending sometime off through injury, he was partnered by Captain Sergio Ramos. Alvaro Odriozola replaced Dani Carvajal at right-back and Sergio Reguilon replaced Marcelo at left-back after also returning from injury.

Fede Valverde was brought into the midfield in place of Luka Modric, Dani Ceballos in place of Toni Kroos and Casemiro retained his position.

In attack, Lucas Vasquez and Karim Benzema retained their places as Solari was short of attacking options after losing Marco Asensio, Mariano Diaz and Gareth Bale to injury. The only addition was Brazilian youngster Vinicius Junior who replaced Gareth Bale.

The major part of the first half was as expected, players that haven’t had the time to play regular between each other all of a sudden reinstated into the line ups together. The starting line up featured series of team B players and they struggled to compose themselves and control the game. Leganese had few good chances to score, especially striker Martin Braithuaite who was a thorn in Nacho’s flesh for major part of the match, seeing a superb header pushed away by Keylor Navas.

The only positive in the first half came towards the end on the right flank as Alvaro Odriozola who was once denied a penalty earlier lost his balance and gave the referee no other option but to point to the spot. Captain Sergio Ramos converted the penalty and Real Madrid went a goal up heading into halftime.

The second half saw a more composed Real Madrid, they retained possession and ran the Leganese team thin. Fede Valverde and Dani Ceballos looked to combine well and pushed play forward with ease. Benzema combined well with both wingers, especially Vinicius and in the 68 minute, their perseverance paid off. A weak back pass from Bustinza to Cuellar saw Benzema pounce on the ball before the keeper could get to it and laid the pass to Vinicius who had an opportunity to shoot but opted against it and laid the ball to Lucas Vasquez to score into an empty net.

Vinicius Junior would later score a sweet volley to make it 3 for the whites and an icing on the cake. He was substituted thereafter to the roaring applause of the crowd for new signing Diaz to make his debut.

Real Madrid further saw off the match without stress, Isco came on for Valverde and Castilla in form striker Cristo came on for Benzema.

Positives

The major positive coming out from this match is the strength, toughness and brilliance of Vicinius Junior. The Brazilian seems like the only person that knows what is required of the team, a perfect example of ‘’KEEP ON TRYING, YOU WILL GET THERE’’. At just 18, the future is looking bright for the youngster, everything purely good from this match came from his flank, he is not afraid to take on defenders and is only concentrated on pushing his team forward. He lost the ball several times truly but ended the match in just between 0-80 minutes with a lovely goal and an assist. Whenever he plays, there is without doubt, joy on the faces of fans and an expectation that he will most likely pull out something great.

Another positive is the performance of Sergio Reguilon. Expected to fill in the shoes of great Brazilian Marcelo, Sergio has never shied away from his duties. Prior to his injury, he was ever consistent and it feels our hearts with joy to see the youngster continue his fine run of form after returning from injury.

Valverde continues to look like a mixture of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric or even a better combination because he intercepts plays in a game more than the aforementioned duo. With Fede’s current standard of play, if nurtured very well, he would without doubt, be better than the German and Croatian maestros.

Alvaro Odriozola was a typical opposite of the same player we have seen in recent games. He bombarded the right flank with ease and energy, was denied a penalty and got another, also provided an assist for the last goal. MORE OF THIS ODRIOZOLA PLEASE.

Negatives

Well, it would be heartless of me to start picking out little faults from this game. I mean, what more can I expect from these humans? But that doesn’t mean we should look away from our mistakes because acknowledging and working on your mistakes only makes you better.

Real Madrid as typical of them this season started the match pretty slow and would have conceived a goal if not for the concentration an experience of Keylor between the sticks. Other than this, I think they played a pretty good match.

Conclusion

This was a must win match, not only to avenge last season’s loss but also for the spirit of the players and the mood of the fans and all around the Bernabeu. The stadium attendance was sparse but those in attendance left for home with smiles on their faces. They also needed this win to go into the second leg with more focus on the league than the opponent. The 3-0 scoreline gives them a much better advantage going into the second leg.

THANKS FOR READING

Note: All images are Google sourced