Real Madrid defeated Alavés 1-2 after a hard fought match at the Mendizorrotza stadium. An ugly win is still a win, and that’s what Real Madrid came away with today. Here’s your quick take reaction.
It was a strange, up and down first half. Real Madrid looked pretty fluid in attack, with lots of dangerous one-two passing and darting movements in the attacking third. But there was not much end product.
Ronaldo was really unselfish, and his off-the-ball movement and passing were all on point. But at the same time, it would have been nice to see Ronaldo take the game by the scruff of its neck and put Alavés to the sword.
Instead, that role ended up going to Dani Ceballos, who netted twice in the first half. Ceballos first goal saw him muscle off a whole host of Alavés defenders to slot the ball away low and to the near post. His second goal was all based in good awareness as he pounced on a bad punch-away by Pacheco to put a low skating shot through to the far post.
From an attacking perspective, the first half was good, but far from dominant or imposing.
On the defensive end, it was typical, typical Real Madrid. Sergio Ramos and Varane had plenty of good, last-ditch tackles to bail out Madrid, but that obviously doesn’t belie much overall defensive stability. Madrid are easily penetrable, a characteristic that was on display against Alavés. Alavés had not scored at all this season, but Madrid made for an easy target.
— The Real Champs (@TheRealChampsFS) September 23, 2017
I don’t think there’s much Keylor Navas could have done about it, but it’s yet another match where Navas fails to keep a clean sheet.
The pace stepped up in the second half, as Madrid started pouring more pressure on Alaves’ goal, and Alavés found some space on the counter. Ronaldo was quite unlucky not to score off of a truly incredible attempt cutting in from the right hand side. The post was cruel to the Dark Invader, and dinked his shot off and out.
Marcos Llorente came on for Dani Ceballos, and the Alavés crowd showed their appreciation for the player who did so well for them last season.
It was an incredibly nervy last ten minutes for Real Madrid. It’s not so much that Alavés posed a constant danger to the lead, it’s that Madrid simply could not seem to come up with the go-ahead goal. Madrid huffed, and puffed, but could not find a third goal.
A win’s a win’s a win. We’ll take it, even though it wasn’t pretty. Hopefully Madrid can build on this for their midweek match against Borussia Dortmund.
Next: Marcelo out with a hamstring injury