Real Madrid 5 Ups and Downs after 3-2 win over Real Betis

Down: Real Madrid did not take their chances

If you told someone who didn’t watch the game how Real Madrid scored their three goals, chances are they would consider Los Blancos lucky. One of those goals was an own goal by Emerson and the other was the result of a penalty after VAR review for a handball.

But Los Blancos weren’t lucky to win at the Benito Villamarin. They deserved their win and actually had 3.86 xG compared to Betis’ 1.41.

The problem is that Real Madrid did not take all of their glorious chances. Fede Valverde scored one goal, but he also failed to pull the trigger on what would have been another goal. Isco and Karim Benzema had a miscommunication leading to a glaring miss. Benzema himself missed about three wonderful chances he’d normally bury, which cast a slight shadow over an otherwise great performance from the world-class No. 9.

In the first game, Los Blancos struggled to create anything. In the second game, they couldn’t quite finish their best chances on their own. So on Wednesday against Real Valladolid, it will be very interesting to see if the improvement continues and Los Blancos both create chances and convert their chances. Much of that focus will be on Benzema or Luka Jovic, who could get another start against Valladolid.