Real Madrid 3 – Valencia 0: Three takeaways from the important win
By Ben Sundock
Really Zidane? Just two substitutes?
Even with five substitutes available to him, manager Zinedine Zidane apparently doesn’t need or want to use Gareth Bale or James Rodriguez.
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Bale was lackluster in 30 minutes against Eibar and reportedly picked up a knock. He missed a couple of training sessions leading up to tonight’s match and was left to sit on the bench.
Another player who was supposed to make an appearance in this match – James – was again left out. Rodriguez warmed the bench on Sunday and did again against Valencia.
Missing the match on Sunday may not have been a big deal, but after Isco was scratched from the lineup hours before kickoff with a hamstring problem, there were only five true midfielders available to Zizou.
James was the only one Zidane didn’t use! In fact, the Real Madrid boss elected to bring on a forward, Asensio, for a holding midfielder, Valverde. While he may dodge the questions in press conferences regarding the Colombian and tries to make it seem like they relationship is okay, we as fans all know that things are not fine deep down. Furthermore, why did Zizou not use all five substitutes?
This was an important match against a good squad, but with a trip to San Sebastian on Sunday to face Real Sociedad, the Real Madrid boss was cavalier with his lineup tonight.
It was nerve-wreaking to watch Casemiro play the full 90 minutes when he could’ve been suspended for the weekend’s clash had he received a yellow card. He committed several fouls and luckily was not booked.