Quick Recap: Real Madrid fails to show up in Valencia, loses 2-1

Real Madrid seemed to miss the plane to Valencia on Wednesday as the seventh-place side dispatched the visitors with ease 2-1. Here is a quick recap of yet another embarrassing loss.

One thing was clear in this match from the kickoff: Valencia wanted it more than Real Madrid did. Fighting for a spot in a European competition and in seventh place coming in, the home side played with purpose and conviction.

Zinedine Zidane’s side looked like a group of young children loitering around on the playground at school. There was little urgency going forward and nearly no creativity in the final third. Especially during the abysmal first half.

A late goal from Karim Benzema – coming three minutes into extra time and seconds before the final whistle – was nothing more than a sorry excuse for a consolation.

First Half

The first 45 in the Estadio Mestalla was once again, one to forget. With zero attempts on goal that looked threatening, Valencia was content to absorb pressure and strike back on the counter with pace.

To make matters worse, the visitors dominated possession and could not create a single quality chance. Plus, the left side of the defense – namely  Marcelo – was too focused on the attack and all but refused to track back on defense on several occasions.

This not only left Keylor Navas exposed but led to Valencia’s corner kick and thus, their first goal in the 35th minute.

Somehow after clearing the cross from the corner, Real Madrid failed to guard forward Gonçalo Guedes as he made a dashing run into the box and scored an easy goal. The pass from midfielder Carlos Soler was spectacular, however, Marcelo and Sergio Ramos failed to communicate and left the talented player all alone.

While Navas should’ve probably made the save, Guedes should have never been allowed to get into space like that.

From tactics to execution on the field, Real Madrid utterly botched this first half.

Second Half

Los Blancos started the second half the same way the first ended. With little to no sense of an attack and getting pressured relentlessly by a hungrier Valencia side. Marcelo did his best ‘Where’s Waldo?’ impression on the defensive end as he continued to push forward and throw wild shots at goal.

Through 80+ minutes, the fullback had taken five shots – one on target, one blocked, and three off target – and had made just one tackle on one attempt. How can a player labeled as a defender have statistics like this?

Although there was a better attacking mindset in the second frame, the end product was still very noticeably absent.

Madrid continued to get exposed on the counter-attack and was finally undone by Ezequiel Garay in the 83rd minute as he turned in a pass from Dani Parejo to seal the three points.

In the dying seconds of the match, all most as a slap in the face, Benzeam scored one for Real Madrid to make the scoreline look at least someone decent. However, if you watched just 20 minutes of this match, you will have seen that Valencia outplayed the visitors easily despite having possession for just 32 percent of the match.

I wouldn’t heap all the blame on Zizou after this match. This result is due to the lack of urgency or purpose from the Madrid payers. This is just yet another forgettable match in a forgettable season.

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