Real Madrid Player Ratings from an exciting 4-1 win over Granada in La Liga
LW Vinicius Junior
Some people quipped that Vinicius Junior had his worst half of the season. I thought that was a bit harsh. The giveaway did lead to Luis Suarez’s goal, but there are so many of those kinds of loose balls that don’t get punished, so we cannot be unduly harsh to the young winger.
Vinicius was tremendous in the second half. He even got a player and Granada’s manager sent off after a very cynical foul, which was preceded by several smaller fouls from an obviously frustrated Granada side that was totally overmatched.
In the end, Vini was brilliant once more. He had a whopping five dribbles completed and three fouls drawn, per WhoScored.com. Oh, and he scored a goal, making it 17 goal contributions in 17 matches this season.
Rating: 7.5
CF Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema didn’t look at his best to start the match either, and we can all tell that his duties with France are taxing on him. That said, the Frenchman had a solid game up top, all told. He had a great header to Vinicius Junior to set up a close chance late in the match, as well as a hockey assist to Luka Modric for the goal Vini did score. Benzema did not have any goals or assists, but he did have three key passes, showing how involved he was in the match as a whole.
Rating: 7.0
RW Marco Asensio
Since his ACL tear, this was the best complete match I have ever seen from Marco Asensio on the right wing. I am more impressed with this performance than with the hat trick at Mallorca, because this is more translatable to future success. After an encouraging match against Rayo, albeit with some consistency problems, the 25-year-old put it all together at Los Carmenes for the full 90 minutes.
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Asensio scored an early goal, taking advantage of a mistake from Granada. He did not contribute to another goal, but he was constantly threatening. Asensio had a sweet volley, a delightful roulette, and a few threatening passes. The man looked confident, competent, and in a tweaked role that now suits him. Let’s see if he can build on this.
Rating: 7.5