Real Madrid: 5 players who must step up after meltdown vs. Manchester City
CF Karim Benzema
Real Madrid fans are becoming increasingly frustrated with Karim Benzema’s lack of goals. He hasn’t scored in La Liga since December, and he put together another nondescript performance in Wednesday night’s Champions League defeat to Manchester City.
Benzema wasn’t very creative either. He was completely neutralized by the City defense, even though their back four should have been somewhat suspect without proper defensive covering in midfield or Aymeric Laporte, who left early with another injury.
The 32-year-old striker is still absolute class, but he’s in a real slump. If he doesn’t snap out of it, Real Madrid can kiss their quarterfinals hopes goodbye.
DM Casemiro
I never thought I would say that Casemiro would be a player who has to step up, but such was the performance Real Madrid put together in front of their home fans on Wednesday night. Casemiro is normally the most consistent player in the squad, but he struggled against City’s midfield.
On the surface, per WhoScored.com, he looked OK. Casemiro led the team in defensive contributions again with two interceptions and two tackles. So he was fine in that regard.
The issue is that his passing was absolutely abysmal. Casemiro gave City golden opportunities on counterattacks, and Riyad Mahrez could have easily scored a brace if he were more clinical on this day.
Next. Now is the time to believe in Vinicius. dark
Casemiro attempted the most passes of any non-CB on Real, yet he completed only 76.3% of them. Even Carvajal had a better average. He was errant on long passes, short passes, and everything in between. The man just looked off-color, and it was quite the time for him to have a rare poor performance.
That really hurt Real, and his importance is clear. If Casemiro struggles, the whole team does.