Real Madrid made their supporters nervous again, but they left them with jubilation after scoring two late goals for a come-from-behind win at the Mestalla. Los Blancos had won just once in the past seven seasons at this venue, so getting the full three points and moving into sole possession of first place was huge.
Here are the player ratings from Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over Valencia, which featured a goal and an assist each from star men Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior.
GK Thibaut Courtois
Thibaut Courtois didn’t have to make as many saves as he did against Inter Milan, but he still made one stop from point-blank range in which he also expertly diverted the ball well and truly to safety. The Belgian showed a very safe pair of hands when claiming crosses, particularly during stoppage time.
Rating: 7.5
RB Lucas Vazquez
Lucas Vazquez entered the pitch within the first 30 minutes for an injured Dani Carvajal and was promptly a disaster defensively. He looked clueless defensively, so it was no surprise to Madridistas when he comically “assisted” Hugo Duro with an errant header. He worked hard, as usual, but, my goodness, his defending is a major liability at times.
Rating: 4.5
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.
CM Luka Modric
Luka Modric had a couple of great spells of possession, including one fest of flicks down the left-hand side with Karim Benzema. In total, he completed over 90 percent of his passes, with only Nacho attempting more. Even so, it was a fairly average performance from the Croatian, who is having trouble dictating the play all by himself.
Rating: 6.0
DM Casemiro
A horrible performance. Casemiro was honestly worse than Lucas Vazquez in this one. His head was clearly not in the game, as he could have gifted Valencia two goals with some of the most spellbindingly stupid giveaways you will see. Casemiro is too good to be making errors like this game after game, even if we know keeping the ball is not his strong suit. Defensively, he made rubbish tackles and did not even actually win a tackle in the match. That’s rare for him. And offensively, he contributed nothing to the build-up play, instead taking selfish shots that he did not have a prayer of scoring. He’s been good this season, but this was his worst performance in quite some time.
Rating: 3.0
CM Fede Valverde
Fede Valverde, meanwhile, was the strongest player in the midfield, even though he has been working tirelessly game after game. The Uruguayan was important in starting attacks and transitioning attacks. Valverde was accurate with his passing, and while the end product wasn’t quite there, he offered a lot defensively and in his work rate on the ball.
Rating: 6.5
LW Vinicius Junior
Vinicius Junior deserves all the superlatives and was the deserving official Man of the Match for Real Madrid at Valencia. The Brazilian winger scored the game-tying goal and then assisted Karim Benzema minutes later with one of the most delightful crosses you’ll see all season. Earlier in the match, he had a great pass for Eden Hazard into the box, and he always looked like he was on the cusp of getting someone on Valencia sent off. The cream is clearly rising here. Not to mention, Vini tied for the team lead with three tackles.
Rating: 8.5
CF Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema tried his best to make things happen. He was stymied and devoid of service for much of the match, but he came alive in the end. The Frenchman did so well to receive and hold off the Valencia defense in the box before finding Vini, knowing exactly where his teammate would be when he received the ball. Benzema then fought hard for the winner, heading the ball into the net for his sixth goal of the campaign.
Rating: 8.0
RW/FREE Eden Hazard
Eden Hazard did not play the full 90 minutes and was not on the pitch for the goals, but he was still one of the best players on Real Madrid. Nobody had more key passes than Hazard’s six, as he made the most out of his free role, often drifting to the left-hand side. We even saw Hazard win the ball in his own penalty box, perhaps taking notice from Carlo Ancelotti’s disappointment with his defending. Hazard is on the right track and should be praised for this performance, which was full of dazzling flicks and turns. You know, like the old Hazard.
Rating: 7.5