Real Madrid vs. Levante 4 Key Stats: Eden Hazard’s impact as a substitute
Real Madrid held on to defeat Levante 3-2 on Matchday 4, and here are four key statistics from their crucial victory before a more difficult stretch of games.
On Wednesday, Real Madrid will kick off their 2019-2020 Champions League campaign by facing off against PSG, so they needed to pick up the full three points at home against Levante on Saturday. Though Levante played well and made it interesting in the second half, Real largely dominated the game and deserved the win, boosting their confidence before a tougher slate of opponents during the remainder of September.
There were several standout performers for Real Madrid on Matchday 4, so let’s look at a few key statistics surrounding the individual standouts from this 3-2 victory.
James Rodriguez’s chance creation
The Colombian No. 10 is one of the most technically prolific players in world football, and it’s quite puzzling how Bayern Munich chose to overlook everything he did as a scorer and chance creator. James’s deft passing, shooting range, and skills on the ball make him a dangerous and ideal attacking midfielder, and Real Madrid fans are thus grateful that Zinedine Zidane didn’t make a similar mistake as Bayern by selling the player.
James had five key passes, seven crosses, and two accurate through balls, as per WhoScored.com, in this game. In total, James created six chances for his teammates and looked like THE answer in the attacking midfield for Real.
Isco will give Zidane more options when he returns from injury, but if James has a couple of more world-class performances like this one, it’ll be impossible to bench him.
His assist for Karim Benzema’s second goal was sublime and showed of the former FC Porto and Monaco star’s unbelievable close control.
The fullbacks were used heavily
Ferland Mendy vs. Marcelo will be the biggest position battle on the roster this season, and it was Marcelo’s turn to get the start after Mendy owned Villarreal’s attackers before the international break. The Brazilian left back acquitted himself well in attack and defense, and the same can be said for his partner on the right side in Dani Carvajal.
What stands out the most, though, is the sheer number of touches both players had. Nobody else on Real touched the ball more often than Carvajal and Marcelo, who were at 102 and 95 touches respectively. Not even ace midfielders Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez saw as much of the ball as the fullbacks.
That shows how important Zidane views width and attacking play from his fullbacks, who provided strong interchanges with Vinicius Junior and Lucas Vazquez. Carvajal looked particularly good in attack, providing Karim Benzema’s first goal with an inch-perfect left-footed cross from the right-hand side.
Toni Kroos’s crisp passing
It’s never a surprise to see Toni Kroos lighting up the stat sheet as a passer, because he just might be the best in the world at keeping things ticking in midfield. But he’s been even more incisive than usual this season, with Zidane playing the German standout in a more advanced role.
Against Levante, Kroos and James were essentially both attacking midfielders, and Kroos finished the game with four key passes. On a normal day, that would be enough to lead a team, but that just goes to show how brilliant James was.
If Kroos and James can keep creating chances at this rate, Benzema will have several more braces on the horizon.
And on top of all that, Kroos had a passing accuracy percentage of 97.5% on 81 total attempted passes, including a perfect 9-for-9 on long balls. Simply class. This is already shaping up to be a heck of a bounce-back season for the 29-year-old.
Eden Hazard shines off the bench
Although Real Madrid didn’t score any goals in the final 30 minutes of the match when Eden Hazard took the field for the first time in La Liga, his presence was certainly felt. And Real could have honestly made it 5-2 with Hazard on the pitch, as his inventive flicks and hard running crafted a few openings, including two dangerous chances from nothing for himself.
Hazard’s ability to draw fouls became a key asset to Chelsea’s attack over the last few years. In just 30 minutes of action, Hazard drew three fouls from Levante, as the defense could scarcely keep themselves in check whenever the Belgian started running at the game.
He played as an attacking midfield in this game after Casemiro came off, and while Hazard’s best contributions will come on the wing, it’ll be exciting to see how he, James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale, and Vinicius Junior play off of each other in attack.
Hazard’s versatility, killer instinct as a shooter, technical class, and attacking engine all flashed in this one. Extending his stats to a full 90 minutes, Hazard would have had six shots on target, nine fouls drawn, and multiple key passes and dribbles.
Los Blancos fans have every reason to be hyped for what he can do against PSG on Wednesday.