Real Madrid 3 – 0 Alavés: Three Takeaways From the La Liga Match

In a somewhat flattering scoreline, Real Madrid put three past Deportivo Alavés at the Santiago Bernabéu to maintain their lead atop the La Liga table. Alex McVey reviews the match with three quick takeaways.

A Tale of Two Halves

Real Madrid were dominant in the first half, producing some of the most fluid and coherent attacking football we’ve seen from the club in a while. Ronaldo looked fierce and competitive, moving well with and without the ball.

There was some excellent overlapping play on the wings as well by the full backs, Dani Carvajal and Danilo. And despite a questionable decision to keep the flag down, Benzema’s smart team play with Carvajal produced the first goal.

Madrid looked fully in command by the time the whistle blew for half time.

Real Madrid, however, failed to keep up this intensity for the full 90 minutes. Despite the fact that two more goals came near the end of the match, Madrid did not play as well in the second half.

Alavés had Real pinned back for much of the second half, and had it not been for an inability to connect on the final pass, Alavés seemed bound to equalize. Late goals from Isco in the 85^th minute and Nacho in the 88^th minute made the score of 3-0 seem like more of a rout than it actually was.

As the xG Map above indicates, Alavés gave as much as they received this match, and probably deserved much more.  As I wrote in my match preview, this was always going to be a tough match for Real Madrid.

Alavés lived up to the expectations, and Los Blancos were lucky to make it out with all three points in hand, securing their place at the top of the La Liga table.

Isco Makes His Case

This was a dominant performance from Isco Alarcon. With Casemiro out due to suspension, Zidane started the “bandied legged beauty” (ala Ray Hudson), and it paid off big-time.

Isco was all over the pitch, creating a number of smart plays through sneaky dispossessions and dribbling around Alavés’ defenders like they didn’t exist (see the tweet below).

Isco’s performance was strong on both sides of the ball, as he made 4 tackles and three interceptions, made 7 dribbles, and added a goal to seal the game.

These statistics lead WhoScored to give him a 9.4 Man of the Match rating, more than a full point higher than any other player on the pitch. It’s usually wise to not put much stock into WhoScored match ratings, but in this case, the number matched the eye test.

Isco commanded the midfield today. The calls for his inclusion in Zidane’s Once de Gala will only be growing louder after his performance against Alavés.

The Beginning of the End for Luka Modrić?

If Isco’s performance silenced the doubters, Modrić’s might have stirred them.

Perhaps it is hyperbolic to suggest that  one poor performance spells the beginning of the end for Modric. It is also probably unfair to judge Modrić against the devastatingly high standards that he has set for himself over the years. These caveats aside, the little Croatian wizard was simply not at his magical best today.

Even the mere suggestion that Luka Modrić might be starting to show signs of decline brings me pain. Modrić is my personal favorite player in Madrid’s squad right now, and I think he has long been one of, if not the best midfielder in the world.

But this season, the 31 year old has been showing small glimpses of his age catching up to him. Alavés put these small cracks in his armor on full display.

A quick comparison of the WhoScored heat maps between the three midfielders, Kroos, Isco, and Modrić (in the tweet below) shows that Modrić was nowhere near as influential as the other two midfielders.

Additionally, Modrić’s passing accuracy was only 85%, not necessarily poor, but not in his usual range of mid-90’s. For comparison, Kroos and Isco completed 92.1% and 92.9%, respectively. He also only enjoyed 51 touches of the ball, compared to 97 for Kroos and 101 for Isco.

Modrić was subbed off for Mateo Kovačić, the Croatian wonderkid considered by many to be the long-term heir to Modrić’s throne. Only time will tell if this performance was a mere blip, or the start of a worrying trend.

Only time will tell if Modric’s performance was a mere blip, or the start of a worrying trend.

Modrić could very well be back to his glittering best by the next match. However, if Modrić continues to turn in performances like this, it will be more and more difficult for Zidane to justify starting him over the likes of Isco and Kovačić.