Real Madrid knocked off Eibar 3-1 on Sunday night and earned a fantastic victory as La Liga returns after the pandemic break.
After FC Barcelona won against RCD Mallorca yesterday, Los Blancos had to win their match to keep their league title hopes alive. Zinedine Zidane’s starting eleven came out strong and took a three goal lead by the end of the first half.
Eibar got a goal back in the second half, but Real Madrid retained their two-goal advantage for the rest of the game. Here is how the players performed.
Goalkeeper
Thibaut Courtois: 5.5/10
Courtois should have done much better stopping Eibar’s first and only goal. While the deflection made things tricky, the ball was traveling at a slow speed and it is unacceptable to let the ball trickle through in between the legs for a goalkeeper of his quality.
However, he did make a couple of good saves with four in total.
Defenders
Dani Carvajal – 6.5/10
Carvajal did well for the 45 minutes he was on the pitch. He did not do anything spectacular, but he was reliable covering his flank.
The Spanish international was also a consistent outlet in attack. He had three successful tackles and two clearances before being subbed off at halftime.
Sergio Ramos – 8/10
Ramos had a mostly solid game in the back as Eibar failed to put up much of a threat in attack. He won three aerial duels, two interceptions, and made one tackle.
El Capitan also bagged himself a goal after a fantastic run into the box, putting the Royal Whites ahead 2 – 0 half an hour in.
Raphael Varane – 7/10
Varane had a very reliable performance. He stepped up to lead the back line after Ramos was subbed off and did not let anything past him.
He won three aerial duels, two interceptions, and made six clearances on the day.
Marcelo – 7/10
Marcelo knows he will be fighting for the starting spot at left fullback with Ferland Mendy, but on today’s match, he proved Zidane right on his selection.
The Brazilian got on the score sheet with a smashing shot in the 37th minute. He struggled a bit in the second half due to slight concerns with his fitness, but he was able to see out the full 90 minutes.
Midfielders
Casemiro – 7/10
Casemiro has been one of the best players for Real Madrid this season. However, the defensive midfielder struggled at the early stages of the match. He had a couple of bad giveaways, but Eibar failed to take advantage of them.
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He was not at his usual best, but grew into the game and got a lot better as it went on. The Brazilian international won two aerial duels, made two clearances, had two interceptions, and one tackle at the end of the match.
Luka Modric – 6.5/10
Luka Modric was given the nod by Zidane to start ahead of Fede Valverde. While the Ballon d’Or winner did not have the most influential game, he was still solid.
The Croatian had only 49 touches in the games and a total of 31 completed pass.
Toni Kroos – 8/10
Toni Kroos also had a slightly off game for his lofty standards. He had a total of 70 passes at an unusually low 85 percent completion rate. However, an average day for Kroos is still better than a good one for many. He always made himself available to get on the ball and help Ramos and Varane get out of Eibar’s high press.
The German international also gave Los Blancos the lead with a fantastic strike smashed into the top right corner of the goal.
Forwards
Eden Hazard – 7.5/10
Eden Hazard played his first game since walking out injured four months ago against Levante. There were some early concerns about how he might fare in his return. As the game went on, he started to gain rhythm and fitness.
The Belgian winger’s best moments of the game came during the 5 to 10 minutes spell in the first half when he switched flanks with Rodrygo. Hazard and Benzema had some wonderful combination plays.
The first of which resulted in a Hazard assist to Ramos’ goal and the second ended up with Marcelo smashing the ball home. It’s a sign of great things to come.
Karim Benzema – 7/10
Karim Benzema did not get on the score sheet, but he was involved in all three goals for Los Blancos. While he cannot take much credit for the first goal, it was still his dribbling into the box that opened up the opportunity for the first goal.
The second and third goals came after some excellent work from the Frenchman and his combination play with Hazard. The Benzema/Hazard duo is going to be a force to reckon with if their chemistry continues to improve.
Rodrygo – 6/10
Zidane surprised everyone with a rare start for Rodrygo. The Brazilian forward worked hard and put in a shift tracking back to help Carvajal.
However, he did not have much of an impact going forward. He did make a few good runs and interchanged fluidly with Benzema and Hazard, but it won’t be a night to remember for the teenager.
Substitutes
Ferland Mendy – 6.5/10
Mendy came in for Carvajal at halftime and slotted in seamlessly at right-back. He put in a steady performance and also made one lovely dribble into the box.
Gareth Bale – 6/10
Bale came on for Hazard in the 61st minute. Since Zidane’s men had taken the foot off the gas at this point, Bale had very little to do going forward. He only had 14 touches.
Vinicius Junior – 5.5/10
Vinicius was subbed on for Rodrygo with 30 minutes to go. He tried to run at defenders a few times but completed zero dribbles.
Eder Militao – 6/10
Militao replaced Ramos in the 61st minute.
He did what little was required of him. Eibar was hardly a threat going forward and the center back kept it clean with two interceptions.
Fede Valverde – N/A
Fede came in with only five minutes to play and did not have time to make any impact.