On Sunday night at the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid put on a performance for the ages in El Clasico. Here are the player ratings.
Real Madrid have gone right on top of the table with a hard-fought, two-goal victory over arch rivals Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu. Goals from Vinicius Jr and Mariano Diaz helped Los Blancos take all three points home as Real Madrid tore Barcelona apart in the second half.
Both teams were playing it a bit safe in the first half but still had enough chances to hurt each other, but Thibaut Courtois helped Real Madrid to keep the score level with some wonderful saves.
In the second half, Real Madrid turned on with Isco going close on two occasions with a wonder save from Marc Andre Ter Stegen and a goal-line clearance from Gerard Pique keeping the game scoreless.
Vinicius troubled Pique and Nelson Semedo all game, and he popped up with an amazing run and a beautiful pass from Toni Kroos to open the scoring in the Clasico at the 71st minute mark. Real Madrid defended resolutely until the last minute to keep a clean sheet, with Mariano Diaz securing the win with his late goal.
Here are the player ratings from the 2-0 win.
Thibaut Courtois (GK)
Thibaut Courtois helped Real Madrid on multiple occasions where he was left high and dry by his teammates and still came out right on top of the opposition. Courtois deserved a clean sheet for his efforts as he helped Real Madrid go into the second half without conceding a goal. He saved Toni Kroos some blushes as he allowed Arthur to run in behind and go one on one vs Courtois. Overall, Courtois ended the game with four big saves.
Rating: 9/10
Dani Carvajal (RB)
Dani Carvajal turned the tide around from his horrible showing against Manchester City midweek. He was all over the pitch today and worked like a horse on both ends of the pitch. Carvajal not only kept Griezmann under control for most part and handled Jordi Alba well but also made some bombing runs forward and helping Fede Valverde on the right on the attack.
He made a crucial interception from a goal kick which almost led to a goal for Real Madrid. He pressed hungrily and never let the intensity drop for the whole 90 minutes.
Rating: 9/10
Raphael Varane (CB)
Raphael Varane had a quiet game as he did well in clearing up the danger and was there to mop up anything that was coming towards him. He was well positioned and helped his fellow defenders out on couple of occasions in dangerous situations. He did lose Antoine Griezmann once at the start of the game, but Griezmann skied his shot from a low cross from Jordi Alba. Otherwise he was solid throughout the game.
Rating: 7.5/10
Sergio Ramos (CB)
Sergio Ramos had a quiet game, too, as he did well defensively alongside Varane to help Real Madrid keep a clean sheet. He didn’t put a foot wrong defensively today and did a good job of keeping Leo Messi quiet.
Rating: 8/10
Marcelo (LB)
Nobody expected Zinedine Zidane to start Marcelo after resting Ferland Mendy against Levante to avoid him get suspended for the El Clasico. Marcelo hasn’t been in his top form and Mendy has been playing pretty well so far this season.
This surprise inclusion had many worried because of Brazilian’s tendency to leave the defence open. Marcelo put in his best performance of the season as he did well in facilitating the attacks down the left with some lovely combinations with Vinicius and Isco. Marcelo turned it up a notch defensively as well and made a goal saving tackle on Leo Messi as the Argentinian went through one on one with Courtois.
Rating: 8.5/10
Carlos Casemiro(CDM)
Casemiro put in one of his best performance in Real Madrid shirt tonight as he made crucial tackles continuously to break play up and launch some dangerous counter attacks again and again.
He teamed up with his midfielders to crowd out Barcelona players to win ball deep in his own half to hit Barcelona on counter. Casemiro made a goal saving tackle on Messi inside the penalty area when Argentinian looked likely to go on one of his famous runs. Casemiro made 4 interceptions and 10 recoveries more than any other player on the pitch.
Rating: 10/10
Toni Kroos(LCM)
Toni Kroos made his comeback in the starting lineup after not getting a single minute midweek against Manchester City. Kroos showed what Real Madrid was missing against City as he helped progress the ball on the left and did well to cover for Marcelo when the left back marauded forward.
He was awarded with an assist for Vinicius and you could clearly see him instructing Vinicius about when to make the run and where as he made the pass leading to the goal. The German star made an amazing comeback on the pitch and will be key going forward into the business end of the season.
Rating: 8.5/10
Fede Valverde(RCM)
Fede Valverde finally felt home as he was asked to play on the right hand side of the midfield where he is more comfortable and impactful. He spent most of the time against City playing on the left where he was a bit lost. Fede made life tough for Barcelona players with his energy off the ball to win every 50-50 ball and made crucial runs on counter time and again terrorising Jordi Alba on the right.
He did well in keeping Alba quiet in the attack which was key to the victory as how many times we have seen Messi and Alba combine to score. Fede was awarded the official Man of the Match award for his amazing performance but I think it should have gone to Casemiro.
Rating: 9/10
Isco(AM)
Isco was one of the best players on the pitch today as he constantly popped up in between the lines for pass to help the build up. Isco was crucial in by passing the Barcelona press and keeping hold of the ball thanks to his amazing dribbling skills and his ability to hold on to the ball in tight areas. Isco constantly made right passes in transition to launch counters while he almost scored in the second half hadn’t it been for Ter Stegen’s impressive saves.
Isco was Real’s main goalscoring threat in the second half and lift the spirit up with his two chances. After those two chances Real Madrid didn’t look back as they dominated Barcelona completely winning the ball back through quick counterpress in dangerous areas. He was taken off for Luka Modric as he got tired in the second half.
Rating: 9/10
Luka Modric(RCM)
Luka Modric was subbed in for Isco and did well in slowing the game down and seeing it out after going a goal up thanks to Vinicius.
Rating: 6.5/10
Vinicius Jr(LW)
Vinicius Jr is the man on every Madridistas lips tonight as he was our main attacking threat going forward. He made brilliant runs off the ball and kept testing Pique and Semedo constantly on the left. He combined well with Kroos to score his first Clasico goal and first of the night. Vinicius is finally improving and keeping his nerves a bit better in the final third.
During every attack he made the right choice of pass and deservedly got his goal. The youngster is the main threat Real Madrid have given injury to Eden Hazard and all hopes lie on him to create something out of nowhere for his team. He did get pickpocketed by Semedo a lot while trying to dribble but did well otherwise on numerous occasions to test the Portuguese right back.
Rating: 9/10
Karim Benzema (ST)
Karim Benzema had a quiet game and his goal draught continued as missed a couple of good opportunities to score today. He has been under criticism for his lack of movement in the box and constant urge to help in the build up play.
Today, though, he was good at his off the ball movement and constantly provided a presence in the box whenever a good crossing opportunity came the teams way. He should have done better on couple of occasions and could have easily got on the scoresheet had he shown more hunger.
Rating: 7/10
Mariano Diaz (ST)
Mariano was subbed in the extra time and yet made an immediate impact with a wonderful run and a goal in the dying minutes of the game to kill the game off. He showed his hunger and explosiveness and took his surprise chance with both hands as Zidane chose him over Luka Jovic for the biggest game of the season. He didn’t disappoint at all. I am expecting more from him as an impact sub in upcoming games.
Rating: 8/10
Lucas Vazquez (RW)
He got substituted for Fede Valverde around the 86th minute mark and helped Carvajal out defensively.
Rating: 6/10