Real Madrid defeated Malaga with a heavily rotated squad. Isco stole the show against his former club. Here’s your quick match recap.
First Half
Just like last season, Zinedine Zidane is using the away matches against the bottom teams in La Liga to implement a heavy rotation policy. Such was the case against 20th place Malaga, as Zidane left Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Luka Modric at home, and kept Toni Kroos and Marcelo on the bench.
📝 Tonight's starting XI to face @MalagaCF_en! #RMMovistar pic.twitter.com/UNVKWOiCBw
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) April 15, 2018
Real Madrid were in total control for almost the entirety of the first half, but somehow only managed to find one goal. At the heart of this dominant display was Ex-Malaga man Isco, who put on a dazzling display for his hometown fans. Isco was in command of the midfield, bringing the ball up from deep and breaking Malaga’s lines with his excellent dribbling.
All of this good work paid off at about the 30th minute, when Real Madrid won a free kick just outside of Malaga’s box. Isco stepped up over the free kick and curled home a beautiful goal, immediately apologizing to the Malaga fans who nevertheless treated him to an ovation.
It was all going Real Madrid’s way until the end of the first half, when Madrid seemed to lose focus for the last five minutes. Casemiro found himself distressed under pressure and had the ball stripped from him, creating a really dangerous chance for Malaga, but Navas came up with a huge save to keep Madrid ahead by one as the first half came to a close.
Second Half
Malaga started the second half out strong, creating a few dangerous opportunities. Carvajal and Vallejo did really well at the back to keep Malaga out, and were two of Madrid’s strongest defensive players on the night.
It didn’t take long for Real Madrid to regain the momentum and put Malaga under intense pressure in the search for the second goal. Los Blancos continued to create danger, relying in particular on the dangerous connection between Isco and Vazquez to cause problems for Malaga’s back line.
Casemiro, who had a poor first half, looked stronger in the second as Real Madrid sought to press Malaga’s back line. The Brazilian won the ball off a Malaga player and sparked an attack which found Benzema in the center. Benzema patiently waited for Isco to run forward before dishing him the ball. Isco dragged the keeper out of position and then pulled back to Casemiro who had ran into the box late after creating the initial play through his challenge. Casemiro only had to tap it in to put Madrid up two goals to nil.
Zidane took off Asensio and brought on Dani Ceballos for thirty much-needed minutes. Ceballos has struggled to find his place in the squad, and must be relishing any opportunity he gets. With twenty minutes left in the match Zidane brought on Borja Mayoral, allowing Isco to exit to the thunderous ovation from the Malaga fans.
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Malaga didn’t seem to have much left in the gas tank to threaten Madrid late in the match. Nor did Madrid seem too terribly concerned about trying to find a third goal. Madrid were mostly content to circulate possession and wait for their opportunities on the counter.
However, in the dying moments of the match, deep into added time, Malaga pressed forward one more time with an eye to goal. Vallejo had the ball stripped off of him in the box and Rolan, who was dangerous against Madrid the whole match, finally snagged a goal. Another disappointing match without a clean sheet, despite Madrid being almost entirely in control the rest of the game.