Raphael Varane put Real Madrid ahead just six minutes in on Wednesday night in the Copa del Rey. From that moment on, Los Blancos never looked back as they cruised to a 4-0 victory over Real Zaragoza and punched their ticket to the quarterfinal of the domestic tournament.
Varane, Lucas Vazquez, Vinicius Junior, and Karim Benzema all contributed goals for Zinedine Zidane and Real Madrid has made it to the final eight of the Copa without even breaking a sweat.
Defeating two lower league sides on the road with an aggregate score of 7-1, it’s hard to deny Real is the favorite to go on and win the title this year.
Zidane did well to rest and rotate his squad and it was clear that many of his biggest names did not need to feature in this match. Here are three takeaways from the routine victory.
Too much dribbling and not enough link up
Vinicius Junior was solid in tonight’s win, but there are still some lingering doubts regarding the Brazilian forward’s poise, vision, and game sense in the attacking third. While the number 28 is always a delight to watch push the tempo, his finishing and link up with the striker and midfielders is woeful when he gets near the opponent’s box.
Far too many times, Vinicius relies on his own skill to dribble past or around a defender without ever considering if he can pass the ball off to an open teammate.
Luka Jovic was noticeably frustrated in the middle of the forward line because of the lack of service provided by Vini and Vazquez.
I wouldn’t say the left winger was poor today, there is clearly room for improvement is all. Vinicius should be somewhat concerned with his playing time since Eden Hazard will be back in the squad soon, but, he still can dazzle the fans and Zidane has shown his faith in him since he arrived.