Three takeaways from Real Madrid’s narrow win over Huesca

Real Madrid couldn’t break away from Huesca for the entire match but was saved by Karim Benzema at the death. Against the worst team in La Liga, Los Blancos really impressed in certain areas, however, it was not a complete match. Here are three takeaways from Real’s 3-2 win on Sunday.

Isco, Dani Ceballos, and Karim Benzema scored the goals for Real Madrid after the home side went down 1-0 in the first three minutes after a defensive blunder by center back Nacho Fernandez.

Although Luca Zidane was disappointing, the midfielders are all the talk after the effort and quality they put into this meaningless match.

Zinedine Zidane is lucky his side walked away with all three points after the way Huesca defended in the box and managed to strike on the counter-attack. Here are the three takeaways from tonight’s match.

Karim the dream comes up clutch

He was non-existent in the first half but played probably his best second half of the season. The way Karim Benzema moved around the pitch and dropped into the midfield to help his teammates when they were pressured was both intelligent and clinical.

Benz simply knows the right time to drop deep and pass the ball around before making a run into the box. As his goal output has slowly declined in the last three years, Benzema has managed to become more of a setup man than an outright striker.

His assist on Dani Ceballos’ goal was exactly the right play as he headed Gareth Bale’s cross right back to Ceballos who was unmarked on the back side.

His goal cannot be put into words. After six total shots, the last one he took was the only one he needed. He settled the ball, took his time, picked out the corner, and placed the ball to perfection.

I have been a vocal Karim Benzema hater in the past, but I have to give credit where credit is due. This was nearly a 10 out of 10 match for the number nine.