Real Madrid squeak by Fenerbache in preseason goal fest

Real Madrid finally won a preseason match outright on Wednesday afternoon, coming from behind to defeat Fenerbache in an exciting affair 5-3. Here is a quick recap from the Audi Cup third place match.

A Karim Benzema hat-trick, the first appearance of Andriy Lunin in goal, and a much happier Zinedine Zidane highlighted Real Madrid’s final match of July and secured the club third place in the 2019 Audi Cup.

Shaking off a woeful 1-0 loss to Tottenham on Tuesday, Los Blancos went behind early once again against the Turkish club Fenerbache, but this time managed to find a spark on the attacking end.

Sporting their new third kit, Real Madrid went behind just six minutes in as winger Garry Rodrigues tallied on a nice bending shot to the bottom corner after making a run past fullback Alvaro Odriozola.

Fenerbache was close to going ahead 2-0 and had it not been for a Keylor Navas save off the line, the match could’ve very well been over not 10 minutes in.

Real answered well as Toni Kroos drove the attack forward with the help of the elusive Vinícius Júnior and Isco to tie the match just six minutes later.

A great pass in tight space from Vinicius to Benzema tied the match as the French striker calmly settled the pass and slotted the ball into the net with ease.

It was Karim again the goalscorer for Real Madrid in the 27th minute as he confidently redirected a Kroos free-kick into the net. Nabil Dirar tied the match not 10 minutes later, sending the two teams to the locker room square at 2-2.

In the second half, Lucas Vazquez set up Benzema’s hat-trick with a perfectly placed cross to the back post as Karim had an easy tap in for his third. Once again, Real Madrid simply could not hold the lead as Ozan Tufan scored an absolute rocket in the 59th minute to make it 3-3.

The game-winner came by way of the recently struggling Nacho Fernandez who picked up the rebound from a Mariano Diaz shot and made no mistake beating the Fenerbache keeper who was left sprawling.

Mariano was very impressive in his half hour of playing driving forward with confidence and putting quality shots on goal. He was rewarded with a goal of his own – albeit on a rebound from a Vazquez shot – just before the 80th minute.

Although at times the team looked lazy on defense, the offense overshadowed those shortcomings. Karim Benzema looked like a completely different player just 24 hours after his team failed to score against Tottenham and Mariano gave Zizou something to think about as the team now returns to Madrid.

Lunin looked good in his first appearance of this campaign and allowed fewer goals than the starter Navas although Navas was tested far more in the first 45.

If Toni Kroos, Vinicius, and Benzema can play free-flowing football like this, the goals will come. If the team gets bogged down like we saw against Atletico or Tottenham, this could be a long, long season.

Stay tuned to The Real Champs for more Real Madrid coverage!