Real Madrid Player Ratings from a stalemate vs. Villarreal

Well, this was bound to happen at some point. Real Madrid played out a snoozefest against Villarreal, in a 0-0 draw that had very, very few sparkling moments. We could see a number of things that were wrong with the way that the team played, and it’s very clear that some of the decisions Carlo Ancelotti made today were wrong.

Quite a few things infuriated me, as well. I am not sure what to think of this game in the context of the whole season, because even with the games Real Madrid have won, there have been issues. For at least part of every game, there have been issues with the press, the structure of the team, the defensive line, loopholes within the defence, and a lot of other things that made me wonder when a game like this would happen where all those weaknesses are exposed by a good team.

Villarreal are a good team. They’re not world-beaters, but if they were, this game wouldn’t have ended in a 0-0 draw. Honestly, it really doesn’t feel like a draw, either.

Let’s now look at how our players fared against the Yellow Submarine.

GK Thibaut Courtois

Probably one of the best players on the pitch. Courtois was super important especially early on, during the time half the Madrid players did not perform nearly as well as they could. Villarreal were dominating, creating chances, and if it weren’t for Courtois and a couple of his well-timed interventions, Real Madrid probably would’ve lost this game. The Belgian was surprisingly decent on the ball as well. Overall, good game from Thibaut.

Rating: 7.5/10