Real Madrid traveled to the Benito Villamarin on Matchday 27 to face Real Betis, and the came home with the feeling that they may have just squandered their advantage in the title race.
Los Blancos were riding high after last week’s 2-0 win over FC Barcelona in El Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu. Real Madrid knew they wouldn’t have it easy on the road against Real Betis, who are a dangerous counter-attacking side with talented players like Emerson and Nabil Fekir. Furthermore, Real would be without key starters Isco and Dani Carvajal for this big La Liga fixture at the Benito Villamarin.
Instead of rising to the occasion and defending their lead in the title race after defeating Barcelona, Los Merengues were woeful. Everyone from the manager to the players were culpable I this defeat, as Real lost 2-1 to Los Verdiblancos and fell behind La Blaugrana in the table again.
Here are the full player ratings from a truly atrocious performance. Real Madrid could have easily lost by three goals.
GK Thibaut Courtois
Thibaut Courtois could do nothing for either of the goals scored by Real Betis. The first was a wondergoal by La Liga veteran center back Sidnei, of all people. And the second goal was on a counterattack by Cristian Tello in which the player was one-on-one with the keeper.
Courtois did make one excellent save, stopping Nabil Fekir from scoring a wondergoal of his own. That maintains Courtois’ streak of making one amazing save in the first half when he’s left out to dry by his defense.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
LB Marcelo
Marcelo likely left the pitch with an injury, as Ferland Mendy entered the game as the first substitution of the second half. While Marcelo did well to win a penalty, that play was more about the mistake from Sidnei than anything else. As a whole, Real Madrid looked better when Marcelo wasn’t on the pitch, as his play fell back down to earth after a wonderful Clasico.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
CB Sergio Ramos
One of the worst players on the pitch in this game, Sergio Ramos was at fault for the first goal scored by Real Betis, making a defensive error on the play. Among the regular starting defenders for Los Blancos in 2019-2020, Ramos is the most likely to make an error, which isn’t what you’d expect from a decorated captain. Ramos did what he could to help the attack, but, as usual, he probably did too much.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10
CB Raphael Varane
The only player who was truly great for Real Madrid on Matchday 27. Raphael Varane is probably the world’s best center back, and he did the work of two defenders against Betis, making up for mistakes made by Ramos and Eder Militao in the second half.
Varane was calm on the ball, accurate with his passing, and intelligent throughout the afternoon. He did a great job against Loren Morón of Betis.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
RB Eder Militao
Although Eder Militao had a few shaky moments defensively, he was one of the bright spots for Real Madrid for much of the game. Militao recorded two tackles and two interceptions, per WhoScored.com, as the emergency starter for Dani Carvajal, who was out with an illness.
That said, there was a massive drop-off between Militao and Carvajal in the attack. This was definitely to be expected, as Militao doesn’t have Carvajal’s technical quality. But Militao completed fewer than 75 percent of his passes, showing a sloppiness that Real simply cannot afford to have at the fullback position.
Rating: 6.0 out of 10
DM Casemiro
Casemiro provided the most dangerous passes of any Real Madrid midfielder, which isn’t actually a good thing. That should foreshadow the match ratings Toni Kroos and Luka Modric received, as their anonymity forced Case to do a lot more than he should have.
Still, Casemiro could have had an assist in this game, as he sent in a few teasing balls. The Brazilian defensive midfielder led the team with 73 passes, completing 11 of 13 long ball attempts. Defensively, Casemiro had two interceptions, though this was far from his best game in that respect.
Rating: 6.0 out of 10
CM Toni Kroos
Although Toni Kroos completed nearly 90 percent of his passes against Los Verdiblancos, the fact that his accuracy rating was under 90 shows you that this was an off game for him. The German maestro made three tackles and worked hard, but he was sloppy and not himself.
Furthermore, seven players on Real Madrid finished this game with more passes than Kroos. Even though Kroos was substituted in the second half for Mariano Diaz, you’d still expect more passes from a player like him.
Rating: 5.0 out of 10
CM Luka Modric
Luka Modric gets praise for clearing what could have been a goal or an assist from Joaquín if the 38-year-old legend’s decision-making were better in that moment, but, otherwise, the Croatian midfielder also had an awful game.
Honestly, Modric should have been substituted for Fede Valverde much sooner or shouldn’t have started the game at all. He was also anonymous in the attack and offered a little less defensively. Modric completed over 95 percent of his passes, but these were all useless sideways passes. Modric is having a good season, but this was a game to forget for the star midfielder.
Rating: 5.0 out of 10
LW Vinicius Junior
As always, Vinicius Junior worked as hard as possible for his team. He was the one making the most dangerous runs for Real Madrid in the attack, and if his teammates in midfielder were sharper, he would have made another goal contribution.
If there’s one area where Vinicius can be criticized, it’s trying to do too much. Vini was dispossessed too easily and didn’t roundly win his battle against Emerson. Still, Vinicius did everything he could on both ends of the pitch, completing four dribbles and providing a pair of key passes. He was a clear bright spot.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
RW Lucas Vazquez
Whereas Vinicius Junior was dangerous, Lucas Vazquez was a gift to the opposition. He created so many counterattacks for Real Betis with his sloppy passing, as he consistently failed to put enough pace on the ball when passing it to Kroos or Benzema in the middle of the pitch.
Vazquez’s first touch was poor, his passing was woeful, his crosses were lazy, and his football IQ needs to be questioned. Whereas Vinicius was making dangerous, incisive runs and smart passes, Vazquez looked like someone who didn’t belong on a La Liga pitch.
Rating: 5.0 out of 10
CF Karim Benzema
Another woeful performance from Karim Benzema, who has been the team’s most out-of-form player since the start of February. His struggles in front of goal in 2020 continue, as his goal against Betis was the result of a penalty.
Benzema worked hard for his teammates in this game, but he simply wasn’t good enough, as exemplified by the awful pass that gifted Betis the game. While Benzema had two key passes, his passing accuracy was below-average and his movement put his team at a disadvantage.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10