Real Madrid: 3 takeaways from Los Blancos’ 4-1 win over Alaves

Real Madrid looked much, much better in the second half

The first half of Real Madrid’s first game of the season was a bit dull, if you ask me. There was some pretty good off-ball movement, but other than that, there were issues all over the pitch.

Real Madrid were struggling. They couldn’t deal with Alaves’ press. Los Blancos were too slow in building out from the back which gave Alaves opportunities to push high up the pitch. That forced Real’s defenders to launch long balls into Alaves’ half, which resulted in a turning over of possession. It lessened towards the end of the first half, but it was still there.

Real Madrid didn’t look comfortable. Even Luka Modric — one of the team’s best performers — found it tough to make something happen at times because it all seemed so chaotic.

Once the second half started, and Real Madrid scored their opening goal, everything seemed to work just fine. Ancelotti changed a couple of things, and Alaves started to look more vulnerable as the match went on. Modric had a great second half, as did Valverde, and many other players.

Hazard was more effective (he registered an assist for Benzema’s first of the night), dealing with the press got a little easier too. It still was a little clumsy, and there were a couple of players that didn’t perform well in either half, but we’ll get to that.

All in all, it was a great second-half performance from the team, and they’ll surely look to correct the things they got wrong in the first half as the season progresses.