LB Nacho Fernandez
For the life of me, I cannot understand why Carlo Ancelotti is starting Nacho at left back over Miguel Gutierrez. It’s like having three center backs, which is I am sure the reasoning so that the right side of the formation can be unbalanced, allowing Eden Hazard to roam freely. But I don’t think it’s going to work out. Also, Nacho was nearly as poor as Vazquez, making just about no positive impact on this match.
Rating: 5.0
CB David Alaba
David Alaba is still getting a feel for things, but he is already a world-class part of this Real Madrid machine, Per WhoScored.com, he completed 96 percent of his passes with seven clearances. This was a safe performance from the Austrian, as Real would not have won at the Mestalla without his clean-up work.
Rating: 7.5
CB Eder Militao
Eder Militao had a trio of brilliant interventions to save the rest of the team’s blushes. He had to do a lot of maneuvering and covering with the midfield non-existent at times. Militao had one particularly smart play when he stuck his arm out to slow Goncalo Guedes down, making minimal contact to avoid a penalty while still buying time for Thibaut Courtois to collect.
Rating: 7.0
RB Dani Carvajal
Dani Carvajal played for 25 minutes before leaving the match. I cannot give him a rating for his performance, since he did not make any meaningful actions on the pitch. We can only hope this is not another significant absence for the star right back.