The Real Champs
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Real Madrid 2 – Deportivo Alaves 0: Three takeaways from another clean sheet

By Ben Sundock

VALDEBEBAS, SPAIN - JULY 10: Marco Asensio of Real Madrid, Lucas Vazquez of Real Madrid, Karim Benzema of Real Madrid, Raphael Varane of Real Madrid, Rodrygo of Real Madrid, Eder Militao of Real Madrid, celebrates the 2-0 during the La Liga Santander match between Real Madrid v Deportivo Alaves at the Stadium Ciudad Deportiva Real Madrid on July 10, 2020 in Valdebebas Spain (Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)
VALDEBEBAS, SPAIN - JULY 10: Marco Asensio of Real Madrid, Lucas Vazquez of Real Madrid, Karim Benzema of Real Madrid, Raphael Varane of Real Madrid, Rodrygo of Real Madrid, Eder Militao of Real Madrid, celebrates the 2-0 during the La Liga Santander match between Real Madrid v Deportivo Alaves at the Stadium Ciudad Deportiva Real Madrid on July 10, 2020 in Valdebebas Spain (Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images) /
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Real Madrid made it eight wins in eight on Friday night at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano as they cruised to a 2-0 win over Deportivo Alaves and solidified their spot atop the league table. Here are the takeaways from the win.

For the fourth time in eight games, Real Madrid capitalized on an early penalty kick. Not 10 minutes in, Ferland Mendy was dragged down on the edge of the box and the man sporting the captain’s armband – Karim Benzema – converted the spot kick with ease for his 18th goal of the season.

From then on, Los Blancos controlled the possession, let 18 shots fly, and were calm holding the lead throughout against an Alaves team that is battling to stay in the top flight.

The insurance goal came by way of Marco Asensio, his second since returning from that horrible ACL injury, in the 50th minute and after that, there was very little push back from the visitors. Here are the three takeaways from the win.

Real Madrid’s Spanish midfielder Marco Asensio (L) with forward Karim Benzema (R) after scoring on July 10, 2020. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)
Real Madrid’s Spanish midfielder Marco Asensio (L) with forward Karim Benzema (R) after scoring on July 10, 2020. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP) /

Attacking fluidity leads the way

Zinedine Zidane selected an exciting forward line for this match due to the suspensions of Sergio Ramos and Dani Carvajal and with Eden Hazard not 100 percent, it was Rodrygo, Asensio, and Benzema who spearheaded the attack.

All three were fantastic driving the ball forward and with the help from the fullbacks Mendy and Vazquez, the wingers had plenty of room to operate. Asensio played as an inverted winger/central attacking midfielder and Rodrygo looked very comfortable cutting inside with the ball from the left flank.

All three finished with an impressive match rating and all were involved on the second goal that put the result beyond doubt. While Rodrygo missed a couple of great chances, he looked very confident with the ball at his feet and with Ferland Mendy overlapping with him, it was a performance to remember from the Brazilian.

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