The Real Champs
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Three overreactions from Real Madrid’s narrow win over Real Valladolid

By Ben Sundock

Real Madrid's Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior (L) scores a goal against Valladolid's Spanish goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez during the Spanish league football match Real Madrid CF against Real Valladolid FC at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium in Valdebebas, on the outskirts of Madrid on September 30, 2020. (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP) (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP via Getty Images)
Real Madrid's Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior (L) scores a goal against Valladolid's Spanish goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez during the Spanish league football match Real Madrid CF against Real Valladolid FC at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium in Valdebebas, on the outskirts of Madrid on September 30, 2020. (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP) (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP via Getty Images) /
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No, it wasn’t convincing, and it wasn’t always pretty, but Real Madrid managed its second consecutive win by just a goal. Here are my three overreactions from the 1-0 win over Real Valladolid.

Featuring a heavily rotated squad from the 3-2 win over Real Betis on Saturday night, manager Zinedine Zidane rolled out a similar, yet slightly different looking 4-4-2 to get past Real Valladolid who are now winless in its first four matches in La Liga.

Seven player who started in Seville – Karim Benzema, Luka Jovic, Fede Valverde, Sergio Ramos, Casemiro, Raphael Varane, and Thibaut Courtois – made the initial XI once again, but it was the substitutes who made the difference.

Bringing on Marco Asensio and Vinicius Junior just before the hour-mark shifted the game in Real’s favor and Vini earned his first goal of the campaign in the 65th minute with a clinical finish to beat Roberto.

Real Madrid’s Serbian forward Luka Jovic. (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)
Real Madrid’s Serbian forward Luka Jovic. (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP) /

Jovic’s best performance as a Real Madrid player

Far and away the most complete performance from the Serbian striker since he joined the club. Jovic may not have scored and was not on the pitch for the only goal of the game, but man was he much, much better from the weekend.

In 72 minutes against Betis, Luka totaled just 14 touches and completed 60 percent of his passes while not attempting a shot.

Today against Valladolid, in 15 fewer minutes, he had 29 touches, completed 91 percent of his passes, and had three shots. Although it would have been wonderful to see him tuck away that chance in the first half that he skied over the crossbar, it is clear that Luka Jovic is gaining momentum.

Receiving service from the fullbacks Marcelo and Alvaro Odriozola, and thanks to the tireless workrate of Federico Valverde, Jovic looked much more in sync with his teammates and actually made an impact.

This was the first time since joining the club he has started in consecutive matches and he linked up nicely with Karim Benzema as well.

I think operating out of the 4-4-2 with Benz and Jovic as the strikers is the answer this weekend against Levante as well. The chances are starting to materialize for the Serbian and we fans have been waiting a long, long time for Luka Jovic to show his worth.

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