Real Madrid Player Ratings: Vinicius Junior the bright star in fortunate win vs. Shakhtar
Real Madrid managed to escape the Santiago Bernabeu with a second win over Shakhtar Donetsk in this year’s Champions League group stages, but they did not escape without getting whistled by the fans for a poor performance.
Here are the player ratings from a 2-1 win.
GK Thibaut Courtois
Thibaut Courtois was one of the top performers for Real Madrid on Wednesday night. He made a huge one-on-one save and had a couple of other interventions to ensure Los Blancos would not drop points in their fourth Champions League fixture of the campaign. He could do nothing about the goal.
Rating: 7.5
LB Ferland Mendy
Tete is one of the best wingers in the entire competition, but he may have only gotten the better of the Frenchman once. Ferland Mendy picked up where he left off in his last match against Shakhtar, dominating the left flank defensively. That made up for his lack of offensive contribution.
Rating: 7.0
CB David Alaba
David Alaba had a solid game defensively. I’ve seen some people who clearly do not understand football (mostly envious Bayern Munich fans) blame Alaba for the goal Real Madrid conceded. In truth, he did well to even get himself into a position to make an intervention, seeing as how Eder Militao’s ball-watching left Alaba to defend two men at once. It was another composed display from the Austrian, who led the team with 92 attempted passes. Alaba is class.
Rating: 7.0
CB Eder Militao
Eder Militao had a mixed performance, highlighting how difficult it is to play center back. He was absolutely lights-out until he showed a lack of focus, leading to Shakhtar’s goal. Militao’s dangerous long ball led to the opener for Real Madrid, and he made some great plays in one-on-one defense. His overall play made up for a couple of mistakes, but those errors are a reminder that the young center back still needs to work on the little things. That will come with time.
Rating: 7.0
RB Dani Carvajal
Dani Carvajal was pretty poor in this match, which came as a surprise. On paper, he should have dominated. In reality, he was exposed defensively and was horrible offensively, offering absolutely nothing to the attack. I can’t remember a time when he took on someone or put a good ball into the box. It’s no wonder why he was subbed out in the 65th minute. It was a night to forget for the Spanish international, but he will surely bounce back soon.
Rating: 4.0